


Re: Pensivity

by Solos_Ka



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Arc4/Season2 spoilers post chapter 7, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 115,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24697735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solos_Ka/pseuds/Solos_Ka
Summary: Gone gone gone gonegonegonegonegonegonegonegone his beautiful blue light is gone for now... nothing left, nothing left here nothing left this time nothing left to do but die. It's cold.... It's so cold....He falls to his knees, soft snow crunches under him.The mansion's wall melts and bursts open.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Re: Pensivity, Arc 3

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on FF.net under username ‘Solos Ka’  
> I’m also master procrastinator so don’t mind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter woooooooo

_**｢** **Return To The Capital** **｣** **"Cup Half Empty”  
**_  
---  
  
—

The sun casts gentle yellow light over this world, showing all the beauty of the land. Look closer though, and it becomes apparent that the shadows are much stronger than the feeble light can ever be. Yet the shadows are mostly glossed over and ignored, save for the occasional mention and acknowledgement that they exist.

The day is sunny and the breeze is gentle. a perfect day for a stroll or a picnic. The sunlight tousels the hair gently. It's perfect. But to him, the wind in his hair is mocking and fake, for his soul is grey and devoid of the drive to continue living.

Empty. That is what he is.

"Petelgeuse…"

…

"Petelgeuse…"

…

"Petelgeuse…"

…

Metal squeals in his ears as the teen walks through the swinging gates of the mansion's fence. He had been walking, on and on and on and on and on and on and on and this was his reward. Death. Not just his, everyone else's. Death, dead, dying, too late, too weak, too useless, too stupid… He can't save anyone, he is weak and powerless, a burden to the ones he cares about. The blue proof of this rested in his arms right now. This teen, Natsuki Subaru, falls to his knees, all notion of life gone from his mind. He kneels, in preparation for his return, having cried and cried and cried until his tears couldn't flow. Yet he tenderly holds the person in his arms.

The outside of madness. The edge of insanity. To live with a foot in these places is to not live at all. Yet to the one who lives after life's end this holds little meaning right now.

Lighter than a feather, lighter than the very air that he breathes but as heavy as the world itself. Rem. His shining blue light was faint, leaving, left, gone, gone, gone, gone. Everyone's gone gone gone gonegonegonegone…

A shrill cracking echoes through Subaru's eardrums, breaking through his thoughts. He flinches as another shrill crack echoes through the courtyard. Sharp pain in his ears. Stone is shattering. The wall of the mansion now has a few cracks that were never there before.

What is this?

A beam of colored light pierces the solid wall of the mansion, it is followed by two others. The lights zig-zag through the stone in slow motion to Subaru. The parts of molten and solid rock give easily after being smashed once more, and a body sails from the new hole in the wall.

The blur hits the ground and bounces before skidding to a stop in the middle of the spacious yard. Long shoulder-length blonde locks covering the face like a curtain, midnight clothes that cover the entire body except for the hands, feet, and head, and piercing ice-blue eyes that shine from underneath the golden fibers of hair.

"That was supposed to hurt?"

With a voice full of malice and animosity, the stranger rises from the ground. Dirt cascades off their body as they rise to a meagre height. The stranger then glowers at the hole from which they burst from. The blonde opens and closes their digits, which are covered by light blue winter gloves. Subaru could just be seeing things, but it looks like there is a glow emanating from underneath the clothing of the arms and stitching of the gloves.

The gender-defining factor of the stranger is his masculine voice, which is teetering on the edge of becoming middle-deep. His body is short and undefined, not fat but not skinny either. If looked at like a girl, his rounder legs could be seen as womanly curvature. The guy voice throws that off though, his legs are slightly more defined for some odd reason.

Cackling, interspersed with a crawling chorus of footsteps that sounds too familiar. The man that Subaru cursed and hated and wished dead emerged from the hole in the mansion. Dark green hair in a bowl cut, flowing garbs of the cult, commanding the Authority of Sloth, Petelgeuse Romanee Conti.

The rubble around Petelgeuse shifts to the side to allow him unhindered passage. Dark wisps of shadow curl around him as he steps into the warm sunlight. His eyes, wide and unnerving, focus on the blonde.

"Ahhhhh, receiver of _Love…_ How slothful that you neglected to end this bout when the chance arose. How slothful to remain dormant for four long centuries!"

The madman grinned as the blonde grimaced.

"I don't have time-!"

The blonde stomps the ground, causing the earth to rise around his foot slightly. Ice-blue eyes shining magnificently in the setting sun.

"-for incessant chatter, you son of a bitch!"

Then the stranger is gone, shooting horizontal to the ground towards Petelgeuse. The crazed man raises one hand, pointing it at the advancing blonde.

「Taida no Ken'no!」

A wave of black hatred flows from Petelgeuse, engulfing the area. Subaru doubles over, grasping the body of Rem tighter as if the long-gone warmth could save him. That black wave… It sends Subaru's mind into a spiral of angered voices and ridicule. The voices attack him from every angle imaginable. It is as if every dark thought, hatred, animosity... It is as if negativity itself is given form and allowed to wriggle inside Subaru's body.

"Petty tricks like that aren't going to work on me!"

The blonde, unimpeded by the power of sloth, sinks a fist into Petelgeuse. The force raises the madman from the ground, and another fist raises him higher. The cracking of ribs and release of spittle only serves to paradoxically invigorate Petelgeuse, for when he reaches the crest of his flight he spreads his arms.

「Miezaru Te~!」

Petelgeuse snaps out of motion, suspended in the air. He looks down on the blonde from his new vantage, lips curving into a sinister smile. Curls of darkness explode from the madman and race towards the blonde, who makes no move to dodge. Only when the darkness is mere feet from the golden locks is an arm raised in defence.

The stranger catches the dark force.

The rest of the advancing darkness halts as if surprised.

"No… nonononononononono! My gift! You dare to witness my love?! My love?! My love! My love! My love my love mylovemylovemylove!"

The blonde tugs at the black appendage, and clicks his tongue in dissatisfaction when it breaks apart. Then the stranger bends his legs before jumping up higher than the suspended madman. The blonde begins to fall, flipping once in the air. The wisps of black advance on his form, intending to rip, flay, maul, dissect. None of this happens, for a short river of light bursts from the blonde's hand to intercept the advancing darkness. Orange and cyan, kaleidoscopic, marbled color and light, this short river that is less than half a foot in length is what severs the darkness.

"WRYYYAH!"

With this battle cry, the blonde slams a sparking fist into Petelgeuse's face. Skin rips, bone deforms, and teeth fly. The madman goes flying into the earth, rebounding twice before coming to a stop. Unperturbed, Petelgeuse stands up, cackling to himself before he notices the audience. Sloth turns his dark gaze to the shivering form of Subaru.

"Ho ho! The one who is swathed in, drowning in, suffocating in, shrouded in… The one who displays so much _Love_ has finally arrived!"

The blonde lands, cursing to nobody as Subaru's presence was noted. It seems that the presence of more people was an unforseen possibility. The stranger holds the arm that had punched Petelgeuse, wincing as his hand makes contact with the burned and smoking sleeve. Then he turns and launches himself at Petelgeuse once more, grabbing the madman by the neck and slamming him into the ground.

"Don't forget who you're fighting, Sloth!"

The blonde spins while holding Petelgeuse, gaining momentum before launching him in the direction of a small seating area with a dome above it. Sloth collides with one of the pillars and his body bends at an unnatural angle. He glances off the pillar and lands in the grass beyond the benches. The blonde jumps once more to close the distance, before a whisper unheard by the fighters sends a blast of freezing wind throughout the area.

This blast of wind flings the blonde away and sends Subaru tumbling over himself, he clutches Rem to his chest in an effort to protect her body.

"I despise that prideful woman and her wretched cult, always buzzing around like flies."

A behemoth, feline in nature and with glowing yellow eyes, appears within the mansion. The monster grows larger and more intimidating, until the mansion can no longer contain it. Glass shatters, stone cracks, wood shreds, the feline monster bursts from the roof of the mansion. It turns it's gaze to the three in the mansion's yard.

The madman, Petelgeuse, spreads his arms and lets loose his shadows. This was for nought-

"Ql Huma."

-the simple chant of another freezing blast tears these unseen hands to nothing.

The blonde's breath hitches.

"It's futile. You'd need a thousand of those to be a threat, half of what Satella could summon."

"You dare you dare you _dare_ talk about Her as if you're acquain-"

The madman is cut short as ice builds up from the ground behind him and shoots up, taking his head and upper torso with it. His arms hang lifelessly in the air for a second before gravity catches up to reality and brings them down to the ground. The feline studies the body for a second befer it looks to the white sky.

Subaru and the blonde stare at Petelgeuse's body, transfixed at such an effortless kill.

"Hmph, now that that's done, I shall fulfill my duty. The end of the world is nigh."

The blonde breaks from his stupor when the feline announces his intentions. The stranger rises to his feet, before turning to glare at the yellow-eyed behemoth.

"You killed the bad guy and you're still not content? You would slaughter millions?"

The feline slowly looks down at the blonde and regards him coldly. The blonde returns the gaze. Colored eyes do not waver despite the obvious gap in power.

"Precisely. Remember that silver-haired half-elf you failed to save? She was my everything, my reason for being. You would not know, you do not look like the type to have someone like that."

The blonde inhales, freezing air burning the lungs. Quite a bold statement from the feline. Of course the blonde has people he cares deeply about, but...

"You're right. I don't have anyone I would die for, since the one who would fit that description died before me. There is a second person who would fit, but it's impossible for me to see him."

The feline "hmph"s and returns it's gaze to the unending sky. Subaru watches this exchange from his cold eyes. His legs have long since frozen, the contact with the ground leeching his natural warmth. He can barely feel his arms, it's impossible to judge if the fingers remain or have snapped off in the cold.

One would infer that the monstrous feline is making it snow. That is true. It is making it snow, but just that alone would never be able to freeze the world. The other, deadlier half of this display is much more fatal. In order to supply the mana for it's form, the feline forcibly steals every last drop from any souce within range. The includes the Od of plants, animals, and people. Life itself withers beneath the feline.

Yet strangely the blonde remains mostly unaffected. It is only after Subaru feels his heart freeze and blood stop pumping that thin frost starts to settle upon the blonde.

With a final puff of air, the last drop of warmth leaves Subaru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up:  
> The first three chapters have been rewritten.  
> The next chapter is Re:Zero anime episode "From Zero." (I haven't read the light novel so I don't know what chapter it is.) If you don't want to read what is essentially a written form of that episode, then skip most of it, since that chapter serves the mundane purpose of introducing the blonde to Subaru and Rem.


	2. Something Made from Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As said in the previous chapter, this is a written form of "From Zero." It is my written interpretation. I haven't read the LN version of Re: Zero, so I don't know of any details that may differ from what I’ve seen. I will put a few lines of bold text where things start changing if you want to skip the bulk of this chapter.
> 
> For future reference, I intend to integrate more Japanese into Subaru's dialogue (for any who know Japanese, my apologies, I have had no training whatsoever and use machine translators, my extremely poor personal knowledge, and a few other things). Japanese will be in romaji. Words spoken in english, not the Re:Zero language, will be underlined.

Eyes closed as if in a trance, the teen stands peacefully. Peaceful in every way concerning outward appearances. Inwardly, the teen is reeling from a horrid experience. The sensation of death hangs heavily upon him, holding his consciousness captive.

Eyes open, taking in sight, basking in light, they revel in the warmth of life.

All too soon does his mind open as well.

Breathing becomes shaky and laboured, cold sweat pools along the teen's back. Such warring sensations of hot and cold. Why is it so hot? It was so cold only a second ago. So cold. Extremely cold. Numbing cold. He raises his hand to block the pounding sun from his heavy eyes. Memories well up under the surface of his skull.

Rejected. He couldn't trust anyone. Everyone was greedy with a craving for nothing but gain. Paid merchants to evacuate Arlam. Hakugei. Rem. _Rem._

The teen looks to his side, knowing where she would be without knowing at all. The softest windchime with the most beautiful of notes plays in his ears. That's her. _Rem._

She calls his name and he looks over. Instinctual, as if he knows she would always be there at his side. Who was at _her_ side? Surely it isn't the teen. He is too useless and incompetent to be of any value to her. So why does she bleed for him? Why does she suffer through broken bone and broken skin for the teen who is nothing? Why does she go so far?

Rem steps even closer and holds a hand to his face. He is hot enough to warrent a slight flinch from Rem, who was not expecting such heat. She presses her hand back onto his face, holding the cheek. Against his boiling skin, her hand is comfortingly cold. Yet it burns with _life._ Raw, unhindered, unvanquished _life._ She is _alive._

"Rem is sorry she did not notice sooner, the crowd must be tiring you, Subaru-kun."

Subaru closes his eyes. Like the rest of him, they burn and hurt. Savoring the feeling of her hand upon his cheek, Subaru presses his head into her palm. The motion prompts a hue of red to flow across Rem's face temporarily. He didn't want her to- he couldn't bear to see her- he wouldn't let her die again.

"I... I'm tired... I'm... so tired. I'm absolutely exhausted, Rem."

Ichi... one...

Just one person is enough. If he could protect one life from that hell, it would be enough. Somebody, anybody. That would be enough...

If he could save at least one person, would that be enough?

Subaru tightens his grip on Rem's hand. Not hard, yet not loose either. He then lowers their hands from his face and looks into Rem's sapphire eyes. The action prompts more red to flow into Rem's face.

Then he turns around and starts walking.

Where to? He didn't know. Anywhere but here. Here is bad. Here is where everyone dies. Here is where Ram dies. Here is where Emilia dies. Here is where Rem dies. Here is where he dies. Though unlike them he is eternally tormented by the refusal of death. Such a thing is his blessing and curse rolled into one.

Subaru realizes his lungs are burning. He's gasping for air. When did he start running? His legs feel tired. It doesn't matter, just as long as he gets out of here.

"Su- Subaru-kun!"

The windchime echoes his name once more. It is a crime, his useless name coming from such a beautiful source. Rem takes one deep breath, her stronger oni blood not leaving her in the same gasping-for-air state Subaru is in.

_Idiot._

Without warning, without preparation or even the slightest explanation he had pulled Rem behind him. How utterly stupid of him. He really is worthless. He probably wouldn't have stopped until he ran into the countryside and across the world if Rem hadn't called his name.

Subaru turns around and faces Rem, putting on an apologetic smile.

"Ah, sorry for dragging you out here. Mind if we find a place we can talk?"

—

Sunsoaked.

The teen and oni now stand atop a landing that would be described as sunsoaked. A gentle breeze from the altitude of the platform assures they won't get hot because of the sun. Calming and dependable stone below their feet. The view overlooks most of Lugunica's capital.

The landing is quite remote, with the staircase up to it having been found in an alley. There is no reason to believe anyone will encroach upon the two.

Subaru looks over the waist-height railing at the capital. The yellow sun makes it seem so beautiful, but only because it blots out the shadows. With a sigh, the teen turns around to face Rem. The maid stands with perfect posture and her hands clasped in front of her. A small smile is on her face.

Subaru nervously scratches his nape.

"Ah, sorry that I dragged you off without any warning."

"Rem does desire an explanation, but Rem also realises you must have had a reason or urgent thought of our situation."

"Mmh, sorry I worried you. I did have a big thought though, more of a revelation. Er, I guess things are clearer."

"What is this revelation Subaru-kun speaks of?"

"I contemplate and agonize a lot, which must be sore on the ears. But I've figured out how to solve and take care of everything. Rather, I was told what to do from the beginning. Giving up... is something I don't do well."

The oni tilts her head, blue hair swaying for a second. Subaru looks into her eyes as she looks at him. He can see something reflected in them. He knows what's reflected in them, yet he shies away from allowing his mind to acknowledge it.

"Rem thinks that is one of Subaru-kun's more wonderful qualities."

Subaru smiles and shifts his foot over the grainy brick. Is she going to make this harder than it needs to be? So simple, extremely simple, frustratingly simple. Words aren't coming to his mind coherently, so Subaru uses this moment to arrange the stray thoughts in his head.

"Things are... There are things clear and unclear... I can't say how many experiences have added up to me being here, thinking this thought, talking this talk. Truth is, I've had the answer for a while now and have been ignoring it."

A short and shallow breath. One the serves not the purpose of respiration, but rather to calm his nerves. A big statement like this would surely call up the fabled butterflies for anyone, right? Wouldn't it?

"I've... decided, Rem."

"Yes, Subaru-kun?"

Subaru levels his face with Rem's, staring into her unhesitating eyes of sky-blue. He hopes his serious face looks serious, and not like his normal scary face. Should he crease his brows? or tighten his lips more? Should he stare a bit harder or soften his gaze? Is this too long a pause or too short?

"Run away with me."

Rem blinks, wondering if she heard him correctly. She continues to stare into Subaru's face for a moment more, yet she finds no signs of jesting. Quickly, confusion clouds her gaze, warring with the other emotion.

"Huh?"

Subaru widens his smile, putting in conscious effort to appear more friendly as his arms gesture about.

"I know this is a snap decision, and it won't be easy-"

Rem straightens her head and scrunches her eyes closed. A hand shoots out in a 'stop' gesture that catches Subaru's attention.

"That phrasing suggests you plan to leave Lugunica Subaru-kun... This must be another of your ideas, right? Something that will benefit Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama!"

"That's not what this is, Rem."

Rem opens her eyes wide in surprise. With that one statement, her hope disappears and her confusion deepens.

"There is... nothing I'm able to do. Both here and at the mansion I'm powerless. That's my revelation... So let's run, Rem. We can't stay. I tried to purge this thought, to not believe it, I've denied it for so long... nobody needs me."

Rem takes an instinctive step back, not believing her ears. This foul statement is coming from Subaru? Such words sound wrong when coming from optimistic and funny Subaru, like having chills in the spine. Rem opens her mouth to retort, but a small "Su-" is all that escapes before Subaru cuts her off.

"It's been spelled out, fed to me over and over and over, time after time after time. So I've decided to disappear. My actions lead to death. Death that I can't let happen again. I've had enough, I'm completely spent, so let's run."

"This is so sudden..."

"I'm sorry it's sudden, I truly am. Truly. But you have to make a choice. Me, or the mansion?"

"..."

"..."

"... Subaru-kun, Rem cannot do that."

His gentle, upbeat, and happy facade crumbles to dust. The contradicting tone and face finally settle into something similar. Pooling from every crevace of his body, his dispair is on crude display to Rem.

Rem, the only one he could've saved.

"Admittedly, Rem has given it some thought."

So Rem spoke. Spoke her heart out.

Impossible. That was the life Rem spoke of. So impossible yet Subaru wanted it so much. If it would mean that he had saved Rem from the mansion and the whale, he would gladly do it. Rem continued, speaking like this was a speech one had rehearsed in front of the mirror. Yet seeing Rem's red expression and hopeful eyes, Subaru could tell it was spur of the moment she was telling him of their potential happiness.

"Wh... Why? If you... If you want it that much... if it is so easy to picture then why?"

Rem looks at the ground, the heat in her face suddenly growing tenfold before subsiding slightly. One of her deepest desires had been revealed without regret. That vision is a life Rem wants... but could never have. That is the conclusion Rem came to in her mind. Rem wants it, desires it, but she could never have it because...

The oni remembers the reason she loves Subaru. The very reason she can't follow him right now.

"If Subaru-kun could envision that with a smile, Rem would be happy to make those words reality. Just knowing that you want Rem with you when you run away makes Rem feel elated, and happy from the bottom of Rem's heart."

"..."

"But Rem cannot, because if we run..."

This short pause, one that seems too brief, brings to Rem the most harrowing feeling of apprehension. Her rosy cheeks could hold no more red, yet seemed to grow redder to Subaru. The flappy feeling in her stomach roars into a violent mixing pot of emotion, yet it hinders her words not. It wasn't that long ago, but it feels like a lifetime has passed since she realised what she felt.

Crisp, clear, without any problems of enunciation, the oni's soft windchime voice speaks.

"Rem loves you. If we ran away Rem would be leaving behind the Subaru that Rem loves the most."

_What?_

Shocked eyes and powerful eyes. Dark hazel and sky blue meet. He couldn't shy away from her eyes, they command him to look at her.

If Rem had known Japanese, Subaru feels she definitely would have broken out the 'Aishiteru’... That word was a word Subaru had never said to anyone seriously. He treated it like a joke. 

I love you... The one that makes you go "Whoa! There it is!" when spoken. The highest form of spoken love.

"Subaru, please tell Rem what happened. If you are unable to, then place your trust in Rem. Rem swears to make it right."

Instantly, the thoughts of that word shatter. Subaru is pulled back into now. Those words spoken by Rem send a cold shiver down his back.

He can't. Won't. Absolutely not.

If he tells her anything, if she tries to help, if she shoulders his burdens...

She will perish.

She will suffer.

She will die.

"We should head back, Subaru. If we take a moment to consider our options rationally, Rem is certain another solution will present itself.

If they return, there will be no time.

Everyone will perish.

Everyone will suffer.

Everyone will die.

"I've agonized over this! I've thought about it! I've suffered! And that... that's why I gave up..."

Nobody, not a single person has ever considered Subaru and his desperate pleas. Nobody listens to the premonitions that he had fought and suffered and perished in order to learn. Like the nobody he is Subaru is cast aside and forgotten. It's tiring. Exhausting. It makes him wonder if he should even try in the first place.

The cooling wind brings to him the sound of Rem's voice.

"It's easy to give up..."

Have you ever been pushed into a body of water? That feeling of your stomach dropping and the shocking temperature of the water, have you felt it? What about the futile scramble to try and regain your balance?

_It's easy to give up._

Have you ever turned the faucet on too hot and not realised it? Unhesitatingly plunging your hands into the burning water, only to feel cold. Then, quickly yanking your fingers from the scalding water as your senses caught up to the stimulus?

_It's easy to give up._

Have you ever accidentally rubbed an irritant into a open wound? Like citrus or hot pepper juice. The pain of your skin seeming to shoot fire from every pore.

_It's easy to give up._

The sharpness of Subaru's eyes seemed to gain an extra edge as he glares into Rem's soft blues.

"THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT GIVING UP IS EASY!"

This statement a roar of misplaced anger, Subaru balls his fists. The blue maid stands stunned at the severity of Subaru's emotion.

"Do you think... that I'M DISCARDING EVERYTHING?! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL! It was easier to think I COULD do something! But now theres NO RIGHT PATH... THEY ALL LEAD TO DEATH!"

Breathing ragged, Subaru clenches his teeth hard enought to crack stone as the weight of it all forces his gaze to the dusty bricks below him. It would be so easy to sink into these stones and just sleep... His legs threaten to buckle and fail underneath him.

"If I could do anything... I... would do everything I could..."

"..."

"Subaru, it is easy... but it doesn't suit you."

Rem utters this line with the confidence of displaying a fact. As if the statement is truth. The maid was taken aback by the sudden burst of anger, yet she pushes on.

"Rem does not know what painful things Subaru has experienced, or what has occurred to make you suffer. It would be wrong of Rem to say 'Rem understands...' but there is something Rem does know. Subaru doesn't give up on something until it's completed. Rem knows that Subaru can smile when he talks about the future. Rem knows Subaru cannot give up on the future."

_Lies._

"That kind of... I'm not that kinda-"

"Rem is not wrong, you haven't given up on anyone. Not Emilia-sama, or nee-sama, or Roswaal-sama, or anyone else.

_Chigau. Wrong. She's wrong. That's wrong. I have given up. I gave up. I gave up. I gave up. That's wrong. I've quit. It's no use. I can't do anything! It's impossible. It's too hard. I can't do it. Nobody can do it. It's so hard. I can't do it anymore._

_I'm scared._

Subaru looks down at his shaking hands. They rest front of him, on full display to Rem. The palms are up and the space between the fingers is wide.

_I'm useless._

"Ore-... I have given up. This weight is impossible to carry! My arms are so short, my hands reach so little! What I manage to grab even slips through my fingers! Nothing is left!"

_I can't save anyone._

"That's not true Subaru. You have-"

_Nobody will ever understand me._

"What do you... WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!"

The teen shouts hoarsly as his hand sails into the railing. In his state, he barely registers the cold blood dripping down his hand from the impact. He raises the appendage to his vision, watching as the red stains the orange wrist cuff of his tracksuit.

_Nobody will ever know how I feel._

"This is the kinda guy I am! I have no strength, but I want it all! I act like I know everything when I know nothing at all! There's nothing I can do but struggle uselessly. I... I-."

One feature. Or quality, whichever you prefer. The point is that every person has redeeming features, if not multiple then at least one. Standing out of the crowd, or really, blending so well into the crowd that he becomes nobody is where Natsuki Subaru is. He has no redeeming qualities. Not a sliver. An ounce. A drop. Despite this he pushes on in the hopes of acquiring the unobtainable.

_I hate myself-_

"I HATE MYSELF!"

_-more than anything or anyone._

"I'm arrogant and cocky even though I'm powerless! I laze around and freeload yet I complain anyways! How did I live like that without shame? How do I still live like this without shame?"

Rem is silent.

"Before I came here, before I got into the situation that led me to all of you, do you know what I did?"

Subaru narrows his eyes at Rem. The normally scary eyes tightening into something even more frightening. Before he was isekai-ed here, his life on Earth... His ordinary, uneventful, self-indulgent previous life on Earth...

Natsuki Subaru skipped school. His parents were in the process of giving up on him, they already felt pity for him. His social life was nonexistent outside of the online world. He never left his room.

Before he was isekai-ed to this world...

"I. Did. _Nothing_. Absolutely _nothing_ at all. _Time. Freedom_! I had _every_ advantage and _every_ resource available to me and I did _nothing_. This is what that turned me into. You're seeing the result of my inaction and sloth. _Desiring_ to become known and acomplish something despite having done _nothing_ is _beyond_ the limits of arrogance! My slothful ways end in a body. Maybe that body is _you_ or _me_ or _someone else_ we know. Maybe it's _more_ than one body! _Natsuki Subaru has no character!_ _Nothing_ about me has changed! That jii-san saw right through me. I was _faking_ , putting on airs to justify myself and tell myself _I wasn't stagnating! To say I was trying!_ No. Nononononono _NO!_ At my core, I'm an _insignificant_ piece of _rat shit,_ obsessed with _pride_ and _vanity!_ _Nothing_ about me has changed! From the start I've known it, that I was the _root_ , the _cause_ of everything! I'm lower than dirt, I'm _trash_ , lower than that even... _I hate myself._ "

Darkness. Despair. Self-loathing. All of it gushes and streams out of the hollow being known as Natsuki Subaru. An incomplete being, with a gaping hole carved through his body. Incomplete. That is the only word needed to describe Subaru.

Rem lowers her beautiful head. Her hair covers her eye, the other is lost in shadow.

"Rem knows that no matter how far Subaru has fallen into despair or darkness, he will have the strength and courage to reach out his hand."

_No, that's wrong. She misjudges me. Why does she do that? I'm lower than dirt, I said that, so why does she still looking at me like that? Why? Why? Why? What have I ever done to recieve that look?_

As if hearing Subaru's thoughts, Rem speaks.

"Rem loves you."

"Why..."

"Rem loves it when you stroke her hair. It's as if we understand each other through the contact of your hand and Rem's head. Rem loves your voice. How soft and gentle it is, how it makes Rem feel safe and calm when you utter the smallest of words. Rem loves your eyes. They appear so scary, yet Rem knows they can soften so much. Rem loves how you walk. Even though we walk at the same speed you always turn your head to make sure Rem isn't falling too far behind."

"Sta... Stahp... it..."

"Rem loves your fingers. They are soft and gentle, yet when Rem feels them Rem can tell they are the strong fingers of a man. Rem loves your sleeping face. You look so defenseless and calm, like a baby. Rem can't help but poke and play with your cheeks. Then Rem touches your lips. It hurts Rem that you don't even notice when Rem does it... It makes Rem's heart ache terribly. Rem loves you."

"Why..."

Rem, who could have chosen anyone in the world to give these feeling to, had presented to worthless Subaru these uncut emotions. Why did she gift them to Subaru, the fool who was nothing, is nothing, will forever be nothing?

"When you said you hate yourself, that made Rem want to tell you all the wonderful things she knows about you."

"N-No... Lying... You're lying! That's all fake! There's no way that could be real!"

Subaru isn't anything like what Rem had described. Who exactly was this person Rem sees? It couldn't be Subaru.

"You don't understand... I know myself the best-"

"ALL YOU KNOW IS YOURSELF!"

For the first time since that week of turbulation, Rem has risen her voice. Of course there were surprised yelps, loud calls down the hallways, and exciting times, but this is the first time in two weeks Rem has raised her voice in something akin to anger.

Then she raises her face, dispelling the shadows covering her visible eye. She's crying. Fat, overflowing tears that rain from her eyes. That hurts. It hurts so much. He feels guilty. He made her cry. How could he do that?

"You know _nothing_ about the Subaru that Rem sees!"

—

**_000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000_ **

**_THINGAMABOBS CHANGING NOW. ROSWAAL IS BEST GIRL, CHANGE MY MIND._ **

**_000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000_ **

—

A man. No, a teen...

For sake of writing referred to as a boy...

The stranger raises his eyes to behold the sun. The warm yellow dot beats down on Lugunica's capital without restraint. He rubs his tired eyes, courtesy of a nonexistant sleep-schedule. Turning a corner, the stranger looks up a set of stairs. He likes to come here, there aren't many people to bother him as he looks out over the capital.

So the stranger began to climb the stairs, his desire to watch the sunset climbing as well. There are a few hours left before sunset, but a few hours to think and be alone is a welcome thing. God knows he needs it with all the stuff happening around him.

But it seems he won't be alone.

A pair of voices echo down the enclosed staircase as the stranger nears the top. Voices... quite an unfamiliar sound at such a quiet altitude.

He considered turning back, he could visit another time. Seeing the long climb back down, the stranger decides not too. He can deal with awkwardly sitting there while two people talk. So he continued to walk up the stairs, growing slower with each step.

It's not that he has any problems with people... _most_ people, but he would rather be alone after another slow day with dead-ends. It seems only a chance encounter will get the stranger what he wants now.

Inevitably, the stranger reaches the top. He pokes his head over the stair's railing and is immediately assaulted by a strong wind. The air whistles in his ears and blows his long golden hair from his face. The ends of the strands fly back into his face, becoming stinging whips. With a sound of displeasure the blonde pins the hair to his head with a hand. It's awkward though, his left hand not fully rotating to be completely effective.

The stranger glances at the duo that have invaded his landing. It isn't _his_ landing technically speaking, but the blonde has had it to himself over the past half week. It kinda feels like it's being intruded upon, despite it not being his property.

A blue-haired maid and a teen with alien clothing. From the way they are speaking and looking at each other the stanger can guess it's a serious conversation. Probably emotional, since the teen can be seen shaking. People-reading skills are something the stranger prides himself on, even though they aren't the absolute best.

The maid and teen are still talking. The harsh wind prevents the stanger from hearing their conversation, and he suddenly realises he's eavesdropping on a probably private discussion.

He doesn't care much, this looks like a rejection scene from a romance show. Romance is nice and fluffy to see, even if the stranger doesn't experience the thing himself.

He probably should care though, intruding on a private discussion like the weirdo he is.

The two are so absorbed in conversation they don't even notice the stranger start to ascend the stairs. His untall body revealing more of itself. Well... if they couldn't see him now they would probably not notice him until he tapped a shoulder.

The blue maid spreads her arms, seeming to call forth a sudden violent gust of wind. While the conversing pair remained weirdly unaffected, the wind threatens to blow the stranger off his feet. _What kinda show magic is this?_

"Woah woah!"

Spinning his arms around, ths stranger regains his balance after grabbing the wall.

The two on the platform break out into laughter, the sound being a signal for the wind to dramatically slow.Now that the wind has died down, the voices are clearly hearable. The stranger already felt kinda weird eavesdropping on a clearly emotional interaction, words would make him feel even less good.

"You are a cruel man, Subaru-"

_Car company Subaru? Who would name their kid after a car comapny?_

"-to ask this of someone you have just rejected."

_So it is a rejection scene, though usually it's because the guy has a thing for someone else. I hope this isn't like that. Saying 'I love X person' would be a horrible thing to reply with._

"Hey, this is hard to ask of the girl who rejected my once-in-a-life proposal."

_What._

The previously-shaking teen lets loose another laugh, and the blue maid follows him. This lasts for a few seconds. The maid's smile grows as she straightens her posture and bows. Still bowing, she talks to the teen.

"Rem will humbly accept Subaru's request. But only if it means Rem's hero can welcome the future with open arms and a grin."

"Heh, watch me! You're getting a front-row seat to seeing your hero be the best in this world!"

The teen pulls the maid into a loving embrace. The maid looks surprised for a second before succumbing to tears, the fat liquid streaming down her face as she buries her head into the teen's chest. The stranger's unease increases as he watches the conclusion of the conversation. He should really leave now. While the display warms his heart, he didn't really want to be called a creep.

"Yo."

Oh crap, too late.

A shiver runs down the stranger's back as the teen turns his head to look at him.

"Hey look dude, I just got here."

Throwing up his hands, the stranger lies in order to try and lessen the awkwardness.

"I can uh... leave if you want."

He was already descending that stairs backwards. There was ample time to return before he left the capital. The city seemed to be a lost cause anyways, he didn't find who he was looking for.

"Wait for me at the bottom of the stairs please."

The stranger furrows his brows in confusion, was he going to get scolded like a child for eavesdropping? Or maybe he would be super unlucky and taken to the knights. Bleh, too perfect. They really need some originality in that place. The stranger only ever saw two people who looked to not be from a knight cookie-cutter mold. That said, they were probably even more insufferable super knights.

So the stranger descends the stairs, waiting for the teen and maid. He has nothing better to do right now with the lull in his search.

—

**Aishiteru ~ Should be the strongest form of ‘I love you'**

**Rewatched this and found put that Rem actually does use aishiteru. Tiny yay for Rem gang now that I've been enlightened to an extremely small amount of Japanese. Also big sad for Rem gang as well.**

**Chigau ~ Wrong/Incorrect.**

**Ore ~ Word used to refer to self; 'I' and 'me.' Gruff/familiar.**

**Ichi ~ Number one.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably my least favorite chapter to write the first time around, but this second time I really put a lot into this. I can't relate completely with Subaru here because ya'know, RBD, but I've definitely felt some of what he feels. That made writing this chapter much more personal and I hope that translated into my writing.
> 
> Also, I was somehow able to extend this from 2k to 5k words. Dunno how that happened.


	3. Conversations

Rolling the waxy texture of an appa between his palms, Subaru glances behind himself at Rem. The teen had returned to the appa salesman and apologized profusely for dumping his merch, and ended up buying a few more of the red fruits(?) to munch on.

Rem turns her eyes up when she notices Subaru looking back at her and smiles. Subaru feels his lungs quickly pull in air as he hastily turns back around.

...

So that's how it is now.

The teen looks to his side at the shorter blonde. He is dressed in clothing not uncommon in this world, very different from his alien black long-sleeve shirt and jogging pants from two loops ago. A simple beige long-sleeve shirt and grey pants is what he wears now. His face is also partly covered by shoulder-length blonde hair. Subaru rolls the appa in his hand into his tracksuit pocket.

"So, averagely clothed-san. Mind helping us with a little problem?"

The blonde raises an eyebrow as he looks up at Subaru.

"Awfully classy of you to ask a random stranger for a favor... I guess it depends on your problem."

"Have you heard of the Hakugei, averagely clothed-san?"

The blonde closes his eyes and tilts his head up.

"Can't say I have. I'm Meiss."

Subaru stops walking and looks at the blonde with a confused expression.

"Miso?"

"What? No! What's your IQ stat? That was obviously my name! MII-SUH. Just without the -UH."

Rem comes up to stand on the opposite side of Subaru from Meiss. Her hands are clasped in front of her as she looks at Meiss curiously. She does not understand this 'IQ stat' so she doesn't realise Subaru was just insulted.

"Ok then Mice-san, mind helping us kill it?."

Meiss puts his hands up defensively and raises an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna need a bit more context. What is the Hakugei again?"

"Giant flying whale. Which we can so conviently track... with this!"

Subaru fishes around in his pant pocket for a second before he pulls a flip-phone from from the depths. He brandishes the nigh outdated technology like a magical item as he waves it around.

"Pffft!"

"Huh?"

Meiss hides his snicker unsuccessfully as he laughs at the 'magical item.' Of course it's pretty obvious that Subaru is from beyond the cascade. Of course nobody really cares since the tales of the land beyond the cascade are surely myth...

"Heheh, pronounce it right. MII-SUH, without the UH."

"Miisuh? Meissa? ... Meiss?"

"Yup. Also, on account of the fact we're from the same-"

Meiss glances at the silent Rem, her maid front being strongly upheld around the stranger. She is representing Roswaal after all.

"-distant country... you've got yourself a bit of ingrained trust. So sure, I'll help you."

Subaru takes a tentative step back and raises his brows. His clothing in that loop could be explained as him just being rich, but plainly stating that he and Subaru are the same is quite the shocker. Especially because of how nonchalant he was about it.

_So it's not just Al and I? This guy as well?_

Meiss slids his hands into the pockets on his pants.

"So where is this whale going to be?"

"By the Flugal tree, somewhere around midnight."

"..."

"Why would you come to me specifically with this? Plenty of capable people around."

"Uh... because you... have..."

Meiss narrows his eyes as he watches Subaru struggle for an answer. The teen is suspiciously looking around as Meiss' eyes bore into him. Rem feels the mounting tension and stares hard at Meiss before stepping in front of Subaru protectively. This altercation happens in the span of a few seconds, going unnoticed by the citizens of the capital passing by.

Subaru blinks when Rem steps in front of him. A sound finally draws his attention to Meiss. It's a sort of _su su su_ sound, like a lighter failing to ignite. Could he just be seeing things, or are the arms under his shirt softly glowing? It only lasts a second though, the blonde's icy blue eyes softening as the soft glow fizzles out. Rem doesn't give any indication she saw the color surrounding Meiss.

"I don't believe I got your names. Mind sharing as we walk?"

Rem doesn't lower her guard, staring hard at the blonde even though he was hostile for about two seconds. Reasonable, he could become hostile again for any reason. A hand on her head calms her though.

"Don't worry Rem, he's on our side."

"Subaru-kun? Did you not see his eyes?"

"Trust me Rem."

Meiss blinks a few times before stepping out of the way, opening the sidewalk ahead. He brandishes his arms in a 'go ahead' gesture.

"Sorry about that. People tend to not like what I can do when they find out I can do it, so I was just curious why you would want my help."

Subaru looks at the blonde for a second before smiling wide and raising his hand to shoulder height. The teen flashes his pinky to the blonde while grinning.

"I just had a feeling. Maybe we're connected by a string of fate."

Meiss snorts.

"Not the red one I hope."

Rem looks behind her and up at Subaru. The tension seems to have died down for now.

"Subaru-kun, what is this string of fate?"

—

The sun is setting, a few hours have passed.

The blonde left after learning where they are currently lodging. He said he had to run to his place and grab a few things. Lo and behold, he beat Rem and Subaru to Crusch's mansion. Mostly because Subaru and Rem were out setting up negotiations. Then they planned some strategies to combat the Hakugei and gathered the forces to carry out the subjugation, which took up more time.

Meiss had been given permission to enter the multi-building compound when he was brought here to know where Subaru and Rem were lodging, that was before he ran off to his temporary residence.

Now, Meiss is leaning against the wall next to a set of double doors. Doors that lead to Crusch's guest housing. The doors are facing the streets of the capital, insuring nothing would bother from the preperations going on inside the complex.

Upon seeing the teen and the maid, Meiss waves his left arm. To the approaching duo, his wave seems stiff, and his fingers never fully extend. The blonde pushes off of the wall and enters the moonlight, intercepting Rem and Subaru as they walk towards the doors.

Subaru raises an eyebrow as he realizes the blonde has changed into the clothes he had worn two loops ago. A black long-sleeve shirt and dark grey, almost black, joggers.

"Subaru-kun, Meiss-san has the same style of strange attire you do."

"Yeah, he does. Mind letting us talk for a few, Rem? There are some things I want to ask him."

Meiss raises his brows at Subaru from under his long hair. The boy is curious and wondering what Subaru could want to talk about. Rem walks past Meiss and into the building, turning around to let Subaru know she will be in her room if he needs anything. The maid really pressed the point, as if teetering on the edge of asking him to come to her room.

Once Rem turned a corner out of sight, Meiss crossed his arms. Right over his stiff left.

"What exactly is it you wanted to talk about?"

Subaru cuts right to the meat of the talk.

"How did you get here and how long have you been here?"

The blonde finds the ground very interesting for a second. He then raises his face and succinctly answers Subaru.

"Blinding light; two weeks."

"Two weeks? I've been here for about a month... Wonder how long Al's been here..."

That last part was a whisper to himself. Subaru put a hand to his chin as he once again wondered how exactly he was spirited to this world.

"What language do you speak, Subaru?"

"Uhh, Japanese. Why?"

Meiss closes his eyes as he thinks out loud.

"Beamed into our heads then, huh. At least the spoken language... I can still write in English, so I'm assuming you can still write in Japanese?"

"Yeah."

"From another world, language beamed into our heads, and powers. What ability did you get?"

"Ability?"

"Yeah, what mystical hero's journey kickstarter did you develop? Please don't tell me I'm an outlier and you got nothing."

Subaru glanced away, rubbing his chest.

"Uhh... Let's change the subject."

Meiss uncrossed his arms and sighed, repositioning them to rest in his pant pockets.

"I can understand not wanting to discuss it. From what I've learned so far, people aren't really fond of my ability."

Subaru took a deep breath, secretly thankful that Meiss didn't press for more of an answer. His face visibly relaxes as the talk concludes and Meiss walks into the building. The blonde turns around and beckons Subaru to follow him.

They walk down the spacious corridor before coming to a T junction. Left is where Rem went, right is where Subaru's room is located. Just before the two turn right, they encounter an old man.

"Wilhelm!"

Subaru enthusiastically calls the man's name and waves to him.

"Subaru-dono."

The old man replies respectfully.

Meiss stops for a second, slightly leaning back to look tall Wilhelm in the eyes. The blonde holds out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Meiss Rhen."

Wilhelm grasps the boys hand in a firm handshake. Meiss tries to return the firmness, but isn't sure how much force to use and ends up using too little for a formal handshake.

"I am Wilhelm van Astrea, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

”van Astrea...”

Meiss looks sad for a second.

The two conclude their handshake, with Wilhelm raising a brow at Subaru. No doubt wondering where the blonde came from and what he's doing here. He can trust the teen's judgement though, his eyes look focused and clear. Whatever role Meiss has to fill, Subaru must have felt he would do well in fulfilling that role.

The duo continue on their way and Wilhelm continues on his way. Meiss and Subaru only make it a few meters into the right turn before Meiss stops Subaru. The blonde points behind himself with a thumb, gesturing to the left hallway.

"Subaru, correct me if I'm wrong to assume, but the blue girl likes you, right?"

The sudden question catches Subaru off guard.

"Wh- yeah..."

Meiss raises a brow in questioning, before turning to face Subaru.

"You should go say goodnight to her. Simple things like that can mean more to a person than you think."

"Suuuuuure."

Subaru draws out his word as he slowly pivots on his heel. Meiss has a playful smile on his face as he lightly bumps Subaru's back with an open palm. The blonde's eyes are creased in something more than playfulness, as if he is trying to fix something.

"This may be the last time you say goodnight to her. Go, please."

Subaru furrows his brows in confusion as he starts walking. The blonde rolls his right wrist in a 'get going' gesture when he looks back. The teen chuckles wryly to himself.

"Was that pseudo-love advice from someone almost two years my junior?"

Subaru does go say goodnight to Rem though.

Meiss also realizes he was never actually given a room, so he walks around until he finds a cat-woman. She's kinda cute, but not anybody Meiss would be interested in. The woman guides him to a seemingly random room that is still open.

Meiss also learns the woman is a man.


	4. Whale Prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a bit of reworking, but not much and is almost entirely old.

"Mmh..."

Blonde hair sticking up in all directions, Meiss slowly lifts himself off of the bed. He yawns and stretches, gazing out of the window. It was an uncomfortable night, as most were ever since coming to this world.

"The stars looks the same, but also different... I never paid attention to them much back home. I wish I had."

With a sigh, Meiss closes his eyes and sits in silence.

 _At least I woke up_ before _the sun rose, instead of going to sleep_ after _it rose._

—

Subaru keeps his eyes closed as a finger traces the shape of his lips. It takes all of his willpower to not form a smile as the finger traces a line onto his cheek. The second it pokes his lips again Subaru opens his mouth and grabs the finger with his teeth. A gentle exclamation is heard to his left as his teeth grasp the finger carefully. Popping open one eye, Subaru looks at Rem.

"Sho eben here you do zish shtuff."

"S-Subaru-kun!"

”What are you doing in my room, Rem?”

Rem froze, eyes wide as Subaru slowly got up from his bed. She was still in her nightgown, and the sky was just barely lightening up.

"Rem was, uhh... Rem... Was coming to wake you up!"

Subaru looked outside and took a few seconds to admire the hues of black and purple, and the red of the barely rising sun.

"Rem it's still dark out, and you haven't yet changed."

Subaru sat on his bed, and patted the space next to him.

"If you wanted to see me you could've just asked."

Rem composed herself, and swiftly sat down. Resting her head on Subaru's shoulder. Subaru reached behind her to pat her head, and Rem felt her lips pull into a smile. They sat there for a good while, doing nothing.

Rem closed her eyes, and Subaru thought about how Rem had supported him, brought him warmth, and died for him so many times. He felt bad for what he did to her on the platform, to the woman who allowed him to cling to her deep, unwavering affection. Subaru couldn't allow himself to do that though, to keep pushing all his problems on her was something he could absolutely not do.

"Rem, I-"

"It's ok, Subaru-kun."

"What?"

Subaru was coming up with a plan to save her, to not let her die this loop. However, Rem shook her head, dislodging Subaru's hand from it. Subaru looked surprised at Rem's sincere look.

"Rem can always tell when Subaru-kun is hurt or lying. Rem is always watching you, after all."

She gave a shy smile, before wrapping her arm around Subaru in a side hug.

"Rem understands you cannot tell Rem why you hurt or lie. But you don't have to worry or feel bad about it, you know?"

"..."

"After all, Rem believes you with all her heart, Subaru-kun."

Rem let go of Subaru, and turned to face him. She placed a hand to her chest, the other steadied her on the bed.

"If Subaru-kun told Rem that he knows where the White Whale will appear, Rem will believe it. If Subaru-kun told Rem the witch was after Emilia-sama and the others, Rem would believe it too. Even if you told Rem the moon will fall and the country is going to be destroyed, Rem would still believe you."

"I never said that would happen."

"But Rem is that serious."

Rem looked at Subaru with a serious face, and stood from the bed. She did a small curtsy with her nightgown.

"With all Rem's body, with all Rem's heart, Rem adores you. Therefore, now, and from now on, Rem will never doubt Subaru-kun."

"So, doing things like trying to convince Rem to believe you, or covering up things with lies, or making the wind corner yourself, is completely unnecessary."

Subaru's throat closed up, and his heart warmed. Turning to stare at a picture in the room, he opened his quivering mouth and choked out a few words.

"Ah, that painting is beautiful, when I look at it, I feel filled with energy!"

Rem looked at the painting, and admired the rolling fields of grass and the bright blue sky in it. It looked like an old background for some computer company.

"Yes, Rem agrees."

"If I don't look at this painting, if my eyes stray for even a second I won't be able to calm down. So for this reason and this reason alone I am not going to look anywhere else."

"Yes, Rem thinks that sounds good."

Subaru realized his foolishness, he could tell her his pains and she would help him through. Rem would be a shining light to his back, urging him on. He couldn't tell her everything, but it would have been easier to handle the past few loops if someone was there to support him.

He couldn't explain his reasoning, and telling them would just hurt either him or them. These were his thoughts, no one would believe him so he had to do it by himself.

Rem was different though. She didn't seek an explanation, and just believed in him. Even when he couldn't speak the truth she showed caring affection.

"I should be saying thank you instead of sorry during times like these, shouldn't I?"

Subaru somehow locked eyes with Rem, who wore a wide smile and nodded.

"You're welcome. And besides, Rem has always, always, always been thankful for Subaru. We are even."

"To me if feels pretty clear the amount of things I have done for you is extremely light when compared to the amount you've given me."

"That's not true."

Rem denied Subaru's words immediately and shook her head.

"Are you sure? Because-"

"It's actually just selfish of Rem to continue this conversation because it is only bringing pain to Subaru-kun."

"I don't think of it like that, it's my fault for hiding things from you."

"But it really is just Rem being selfish. Thus, Rem is sorry."

Subaru looked fondly at the figure whose smile and tone of voice was contradictory.

"Rem wants to be able to carry even just a bit of the burden that Subaru-kun carries. Not being able to do that hurts Rem."

"I..."

The heaviness of Rem's feelings was too much for Subaru. He leaned onto his back on the bed, and took a deep breath. His chest felt warm, and it took every ounce of courage to speak.

"I... I love Emilia."

"Yes."

"But..."

"But, you make my heart flutter. You can think of me as terrible for that."

Subaru sat up, it wasn't a lie, it was terrible but not a lie. Rem gave a little sigh.

"You really are a terrible person, Subaru-kun."

"I know."

"That was a lie, I love you."

"I... Ok."

Rem clearly voicing her feelings caught Subaru off guard. His face turned red immediately. Oh how he wished for it to be pitch black so she couldn't see.

In order to spare himself, he got up from the bed and turned towards the door.

"About time we get ready to leave. We need to mentally prepare ourselves for the Hakugei."

Rem grabbed Subaru's hand, his other reaching for the doorknob. Twisting it, they left his room.

"Subaru-kun?"

"What is it, Rem?"

"Rem is fine with being your second wife."

When he heard this, Subaru's legs gave out. On his way to the ground, he saw Rem's face. She looked like a mischievous cat that had done something bad. The thud of Subaru hitting the ground sped through the hall.

With his face on the ground, Subaru spoke.

"If Emilia-tan is fine with polygamy, then sure."

"Well then, when we get back Rem will need to try her hardest to persuade Emilia-sama. Rem will do her best."

Subaru saw the lighthearted smile on Rem's face and realized he was no match for her when it came to things like this. He was fine with recognizing this weakness, though.

—

Meiss stared at the red sky, the white window frame contrasting it perfectly. He missed his books, he missed the convenience of a phone, he missed his friends, he missed his world. Meiss grabbed a pillow and pressed it to his face. He had one goal he had been chasing for a week in this world. He was barely any closer to it then he was five days ago.

—

The sharp tang of metal clinking together sounded all around Rem; the Oni found it highly distracting with her enhanced senses.

Subaru was meeting with Crusch, and had asked Rem to get some further rest since she was up earlier than she had to be.

"Let me see your arm nyow."

Rem heard Ferris’ voice above the tinks and clangs, and turned her head in that direction.

Meiss looked at the cat-boy funny, before conceding and rolling up his sleeve. The table they were at stared in shock as he removed a wrap to expose still-healing cuts that marred his entire left forearm. Ferris looked over them for a second, running his fingers along the pink and red ridges.

"They are mostly healed, all I can do is speed up the process and heal the muscles underneath. Honestly, why do people do this sort of thing... Nyothing I can do about the scars though since as I said before it's already mostly healed."

Meiss held out his forearm, grimacing at what Ferris said, as it was bathed in a blue light. When the light dimmed, the pink and red was replaced with a light tone of skin, with visibly raised ridges. Meiss rolled his wrist quite easily.

"Thank you, Felix; and I didn’t do that to myself."

Meiss rolled his sleeve down.

—

Ferris had his gate-healing session with Subaru, Rem holding him down in greedy positions. Wilhelm took Meiss with him to see what the young’un could do.

Subaru was presented with a ground dragon to use in the battle, and chose a black-scaled female and named her Patrasche. Meiss was offered one too, but turned the offer down.

On the carriage ride to the Flugal tree, Subaru told Meiss the plan.

"We're going to use a device to brighten the area like it was day, and try to inflict as much damage as possible to the whale. When it starts to lag, or if it ever gets too high to attack, we're going to get me up there to draw it down. For some reason, mabeasts really like me. When the whale is low enough we're going to topple the tree and crush it."

"Mabeasts like you, huh. Must be pretty painful."

"Yeah, it was."

_But that's not your power, is it?_

Subaru rubbed his chest, Meiss noticed he did that when he asked about his power last night too. Subaru caught Meiss’ eye, and seemed to be confused with the stare.

With nothing to talk about, the carriage continued in silence. A few conversation starters were brought up, but they all fizzled out. Eventually, Meiss decided to take a nap for the remainder of the way to the Flugal tree.

—

Subaru shook Meiss awake. The first thing he registered was the noticeably darker sky. Rem was already outside the carriage, waiting for Subaru. Meiss stepped out after Subaru, lightly landing on the ground left to him. Adjusting his eyes to the dark sky, Meiss saw Subaru start off towards the rows of soldiers. Rem started after him, but Meiss tapped her shoulder.

"Rem."

"Yes, Meiss-san?"

"Be careful, Subaru seems the type to depend on his friends. Or maybe more than friends~?”

Rem looked flustered as Meiss let out a coarse laugh, her maid front dropping for a split second.

"M- Meiss-san, Rem-"

"Please, drop the honorific, I don't have them where I'm from. It makes me uncomfortable. As a matter of fact I'm going to help unload the cannons."

Meiss turned on his heel, and power walked away from Rem. He made his way over to the cannons and once again met Wilhelm.

"Wilhelm! Where can I help?"

"Meiss-san, we could use your strength, although I felt you were holding back earlier today. The remaining cannons would be moved much quicker with your help."

"I'll get to it Wilhelm."

—

Subaru ran over the strategy with Crusch, making sure they were both on the same page, and was silently thinking of ways to defeat Petelgeuse. Walking away, his hand on his chin, Subaru was caught off guard when Rem appeared in front of him. She playfully took his hand and led him to a root to sit down on.

"Rem?"

"Subaru-kun said Rem should just ask if she wants to spend time with you."

"I did say that."

"Less importantly, Rem wanted to talk about Meiss."

Subaru didn't expect this.

"What about Meiss-san?"

"Firstly, there are some discrepancies between your version and his version of your country."

Subaru stiffened, he knew this talk would happen eventually, but not right now.

"Meiss has requested Rem stop using honorifics, saying that they don't use them in his country. But you came to us using honorifics, and even gave Emilia-sama the honorific -tan. Not to mention how different you two look, or how Rem has never heard of your country. It all doesn't quite add up, Subaru-kun."

Subaru started to nervously sweat. He really wanted to have everyone with him to announce where he really came from, but never thought it necessary. The piercing sapphire eyes next to him commanded an answer though.

"Rem... What we were saying about being from a different country is true, but not the entire truth."

Subaru looked up from his sneakers and watched Meiss push the cannons that took whole teams to move, by himself. He did need to put in a fair bit of effort, but it drastically cut down on time.

"The entire truth is... We're from another world, or universe, reality, what have you."

Rem tilted her head at Subaru, the words not fully sinking in until a few seconds later. She had promised Subaru she would never doubt him and always believe him, but this was a bit much.

"I never really felt a need to tell anyone, so I never brought it up. Not to mention no one would believe me. But with what you said today and yesterday, I feel comfortable with telling you."

Rem stared at Subaru as things started to click in her head. His mannerisms, the clothes, the metia, or phone as Meiss called it.

"It's a lot to take in, huh?"

"Yes, it is. But this makes sense to Rem, and would explain a few things. Rem shall keep Subaru-kun's and Meiss' secret until you wish to inform the rest at the mansion."

"Thanks Rem, I feel like a weight that I never noticed was just lifted."

Subaru placed his hand over Rem's and stood up, bringing her with him. Together, they walked over to Meiss and relieved him of his cannon duty. Subaru told him Rem knows where they came from. Meiss gave a blank stare for a second, before sighing.

"Subaru, don’t tell people that willy-nilly."

Rem giggled, and Subaru put his hands on his hips. He took a deep breath before pointing at Meiss sharply.

”What an old phrase! Who says that anymore!”

”What... no, I’m being serious, Subaru.”

—

"What time will the Hakugei come? I hope you set an alarm or something."

"I did, it comes around 11:30."

"What time is it now?"

"11:23"

"Hm."

Subaru and Rem mounted Patrasche, and Meiss stood next to them. Rem looked over and saw Meiss stretching, comparing it to Subaru's daily routine of movements. Subaru noticed too.

"Leg stretches? We're fighting a flying whale, not running a marathon."

"Hey, it helps me calm down. Besides, loosening up the body is good for strenuous cardio, right? ... Man I haven't kept up with my running at all have I... I should also do some arm stuff..."

Subaru checked his phone, only one minute left.

A loud, jarring beep sounded through the night sky. It repeated thrice, then went silent. A few moments of terrifying silence encompassed everything.

A loud roar shook the earth as an albino whale floated into view.


	5. Hakugei Subjugation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first completely old chapter, from this point on all I’m doing is some minor edits.

"So that's it, huh?"

"Yeah, it's scary every time."

Meiss questioned Subaru's word choice silently before reminding himself that Subaru had a power. Was it seeing the future? Eyeing the height, Meiss realized he wouldn't be able to reach it without help.

"That thing's high, I'm gonna need a boost to get all the way there. Rem?"

"Got it."

Rem waved her hand, several spears of ice materializing along with a longer, flatter one. Meiss hopped onto it and spoke in a monotone voice.

"I trust you guys to understand that me and them have a hate-hate relationship."

Meiss took a deep breath. He always felt like screaming to the sky when announcing his powers, but he usually kept it to a whisper so low nobody heard him. Now though, his voice was raised just high enough for only Subaru and Rem to hear.

"Potestas de Tristitia!"

Meiss then raised his voice into a yell.

"DOLOREM!"

Warmth sped through Meiss' legs as the platform of ice shot forwards along with the smaller icicles. He jumped off of his ice when he got close to the whale, causing it to fall rapidly. He shot up, grabbing the side of the whale to make sure he didn't shoot past it. The whale attempted to shake him off, but he held fast. Climbing to the top, Meiss planted his foot and jumped into the air. He activated the stronger form of Dolorem, tendrils covered his arm, and he used his fall to increase the strength of his punch.

Meiss gritted his teeth in pain. He had only used it for a second, but electricity arced along his arm, burning it. The force of his punch sent the whale into the ground. Meiss was knocked off, but was grabbed by Wilhelm, who had jumped on top of the whale.

"This thing doesn't seem to take much damage from blunt blows Wilhelm! I'm pretty much useless outside of redirecting it!"

Wilhelm ran along the length of the whale, parting the shock absorbent skin with one of the many swords at his waist.

"That is fine Meiss-san! Redirecting it is invaluable to us right now!"

While Meiss, Wilhelm, and the Iron Fang kept the whale busy, with occasional help from the artillery, Rem and Subaru were speeding off towards the tree.

Subaru was still thinking about what Meiss said.

"I don't know what language that was, but it definitely wasn't English. I heard 'Tristitia' in there, pretty sure it means something like 'Melancholy,' or 'Depression.'"

Then it hit Subaru, the only other person who had spoken in another language, Japanese, was Petelgeuse. This raised a lot of questions in Subaru's mind, none of which he had the answers to. Meiss had also described his relationship to 'them' as hate-hate. Who was this 'them' that he referred to?

Deciding to ask him later, Subaru focused on the task at hand.

Rem heard Subaru mutter behind her. She still hadn't fully processed the fact that Subaru and Meiss were from beyond the waterfall, or that Subaru had some sort of foresight. She shook her head to clear it.

Suddenly, the night sky disappeared, replaced with a light like day. It took a second for Meiss' eyes to adjust. Blinking the flash away, he found himself no longer on the whale. Meiss flailed around in free-fall for a second before righting himself to land on his feet.

Subaru blinked the flash out of his eyes, and refocused on the whale. He nearly yelped as he saw Meiss in free-fall. He actually did yell out when it seemed like Meiss was trying to pencil-dive into the ground.

"What is wrong, Subaru-kun?"

"Meiss fell off the whale!"

Rem brought Patrasche to a stop and drew her Morningstar. She sent the ball hurtling towards Meiss, and the chain wrapped around him. He jerked to the side, and landed with his feet on the ground. Skidding for a few seconds, Meiss tripped and rolled onto his back in front of the black ground dragon.

"Meiss! You ok?!"

Meiss got up, dusted himself off, and gave a thumbs up. Just then, a blast of air knocked him over. Subaru and Rem were fine, due to the blessing of the wind all ground dragons had. Meiss dusted himself off again, cursing the whale with every profanity in his vocabulary. He was still listing off curse words, and getting really creative, when he re-activated Dolorem and sped off. Subaru and Rem waited on standby, ready for the signal to be bait.

Meiss ran along the ground, warmth in his legs. His arm hurt, he would have to ask Ferris to heal him later. Wind whistled past his ears as he jumped towards the tree. He used the third and last Dolorem to dig his uninjured hand into the bark of the Flugal Tree. Meiss propelled himself up with his hand, and pushed off the tree with his foot. He sailed towards the whale, once again grabbing the side to make sure he didn't overshoot. Wilhelm ran past him, and a sheet of red erupted in his wake. Meiss wondered how he could run so fast in dress shoes.

Wilhelm dragged his sword along the length of the whale, before stopping at its eye. He swung his sword into the orb, the blade disappearing into the yellow. He unsheathed the sword from the eye, and ran around it. The bloody eye fell to the ground, and the whale lurched and roared in pain. The remaining eye started to turn a deep red. Holes on the sides of the whale opened up, and thick, grey gas shot out of every opening. The artificial sun was blotted out in seconds. The whale thrashed violently one more time, dislodging Meiss and Wilhelm. Meiss once again pencil-dived towards the ground, his legs didn't crumble when he hit it. Wilhelm wasn't so lucky, he took some damage upon hitting the ground and was stunned.

—

Meiss looked around, the fog was pressing in on his vision. He heard Crusch calling for a retreat before screams rose in the sky. Meiss ran towards them, alternating his focus between the grey sky, and the barely visible ground. One scream shot higher than the others as Meiss tripped, then faded into a whimper. Meiss looked back, and crawled over to check on the person he tripped over. The man refused to be rolled over, so Meiss activated his authority and forced him to roll over. He grimaced as he watched the man tear at his face, as if trying to rip the memory of something from his very brain.

"Wrr, my passive must be active right now, damn this whale to hell."

Meiss slung the convulsing man over his shoulder. He made his way in the direction where the screaming was loudest. The smoke parted and the clearing showed body after body convulsing on the ground. Ferris frantically rushed between the bodies, trying to work his healing magic. He stopped for a second as he noticed Meiss stroll in like nothing was wrong with him, then continued to heal. Meiss gently set the man down for Ferris to heal him

"Felix, do you know what's happening?"

"It's a mental attack from the fog. I can remove the effects, but the problem is getting to them before they hurt themselves."

Meiss looked over the bodies, noticing that some were in pairs. People were trying to hold down the affected, but there were too many convulsing and too little people to hold them down.

Meiss spotted Subaru holding Rem's shoulder as she clutched her head in pain. He retracted his hand as she waved hers in an 'I'm fine' gesture. Meiss started to jog over to them, wondering if Subaru had received any premonitions.

"Rem, sorry, but I need you to accompany me to the most dangerous place here!"

"Of course. Anywhere."

They sped off before Meiss got to them. Subaru started to scream into the air.

"Anyone who can hear me, keep fighting!"

After saying these words of questionable encouragement, he threw his head back and yelled into the fog.

"SHI NI MO-"

Meiss stiffened, if felt like a black presence was near. He broke out in a cold sweat as he felt his movements slow. He felt as if he couldn't pull air into his lungs, the muscles refusing to work. This fear was worse than the whale, almost as bad as what happened a week ago, when he was powerless. Meiss felt as if shadows surrounded him, or as if he was stuck in a pool of tar, unable to move. Just as quickly as the feeling appeared, it vanished. The rapid change sent Meiss to the ground on threes, his injured arm flopped to the side. Meiss took exaggerated breaths to try to fill his lungs, unaware that would do nothing as his lungs were fine. He barely registered Crusch calling for everyone to relocate to the tree.

Meiss felt hands wrap around him and raise him from the ground. His vision rapidly cleared of the shadows and he saw Wilhelm dart in the direction of Subaru and Rem. He wobbled with the person next to him for a few seconds before he could shakily walk on his own.

He heard a loud thud in the distance, like a slab of meat hitting the ground. Grey shots of fog started flying in random directions as the Hakugei spun around in pain. Meiss widened his eyes as a stream completely evaporated two people in front of him. Without thinking, he activated his authority and jumped around. He shoved one person away from a stream. Saw another stream heading for a small group of people and threw out his hand, yelling something that was lost in the roar of another stream that sailed just overhead. The fog collided with an invisible force and dissipated. He dug the ball of his foot into the ground before shooting off and colliding with Crusch's ground dragon, sending them both out of the way of another blast. On the ground, he snapped his hand around again. "QUIESCENCE" Just like the small group he saved, a clear bubble surrounded a soldier dragging two people, saving them from another blast of fog.

Meiss stood up, and saw another stream heading towards Ferris, who was surrounded by people dragging wounded and dragging one himself. Too many people, he couldn't move them all and they wouldn't fit in a Quiescence. Meiss shouted Dolorem once more and overexerted himself to get there. The stronger version of Dolorem covered one leg as his body turned into a blur. Sparks and electricity from overusing his authority crackled around him as he dug his foot into the ground to stop himself. He slanted forward, and met the stream head-on. Light emanated from his body as he activated two more authorities. Three rivers of light snaked in front of him to try and redirect the stream. When that failed, the stream hit him. He yelled out in pain as he shielded his face with his arms, curling into the fetal position mid-air. The opaque grey shot out in a cone around him, dissipating after traveling a meter or two. His nerves were shot, something that should hurt so incredibly felt like an ice bath. Like how water can be so hot it feels cold. This uncanny feeling of gaseous ice was felt through his whole body as the grey stopped coming and he was flung back.

Ferris barely registered the light, or the body that saved them until after Meiss almost flew past them. His clothes were in tatters, and his skin was marred in fresh electricity burns. He bounced onto his back, exposing his harsh scarlet and cracked skin to the world. Ferris all but shoved the man he was carrying to another before rushing over. Light covered his hands as he started healing the mess in front of him. Meiss groaned and his eyes half opened when Ferris accidentally touched him. Crusch appeared by Ferris' side when she saw him hunched over a smoking body.

"Ferris! What happened?”

Ferris looked up at Crusch, who had dismounted her ground dragon.

"He dived in front of the fog and saved me and that group over there. I don't knyow how he's alive right nyow. That's were all the red is coming from. I don't knyow where the lightnying burns came from though."

"Is it ok to move him?"

"I would advise against it, but we don't really have a choice right nyow."

Together, Ferris and another soldier lifted the boy and carefully carried him to the base of the tree. Crusch sped off into the fog. Meiss gasped and coughed in the two's arms. Ferris and the soldier rested him next to a root. Ferris saw the soldier stiffen in fear next to him, but was focused on healing the frail boy before him. He found that the electricity burns came off easily, as if they were superficial, so he swept Meiss over with lower-end healing magic to conserve mana before setting to work on his front. The scarlet color covered a good portion of his chest and torso, and extended down his legs. His forearms were scarlet too, probably shielding his face from the fog. The skin was cracked in some places, and blood criss-crossed the entire surface. Bright light covered Ferris' palms as he started work.

—

Subaru and Crusch sat on their ground dragons at the head of the forces. The Hakugei, no, the three Hakugei circled menacingly, tanking blows from Crusch's sword. Rem was on a whale, trying to extract a swallowed Wilhelm.

Ferris stabilized Meiss, just in time for an injured Ricardo to be set next to him.

"Work is nyever done, is it?"

The beast man was a lot easier to heal, this time Ferris knew what he was doing. Meiss was unknown territory. Ferris was now occupied with an unconscious Wilhelm, who had been extracted, so he didn't notice Meiss jerk a little.

Meiss' muscles spasmed weakly for a few seconds before his eyes opened. He turned his head to the side, and saw Ferris with his back to him. Meiss stretched his forearm, feeling an intense heat coursing through it. His hand grasped the root, and he attempted to pull himself up. His abdominal muscles screamed in pain, refusing to be used. That was fine, he would force them to be used. Meiss activated his authority for the umpteenth time in this fight. Indifferentia, an ability that offers complete protection, though it weakens as it is spread across his body. It also had the bonus of removing pain. Meiss used Indifferentia on his torso, and was able to stand. Ferris heard Meiss move around and turned to make sure he was alright. To his horror, Meiss was standing and leaning foreword as if to run or walk.

"Meiss-"

Ferris reached out his hands to grab Meiss, who stepped out of reach. Marbled color spread across his now exposed skin. The mural of bright orange and cyan seeming to glow in the dark atmosphere. No, he was definitely glowing. Meiss lightly hopped forward, the tatters of his lower shirt breaking off and floating away. The glowing colors slid to Meiss' leg and formed thick bands in the shape of the leg's superficial muscles. More electricity sparkled and popped around him as he jumped into one of the whale clones.

—

Subaru rode an icicle made by Rem onto the original Hakugei. Jumping off it and landing on it's horn, Subaru loudly began talking to it.

"Oi... Now that I see you up close, you really are creepy."

The whale focused its gaze on the nuisance that stood atop its horn.

"Try to keep up with me. Just so you know, I'm infamous for being so annoying that no one can ignore me!"

Subaru dropped to all fours.

"Ok! Let's do this!"

Subaru jumped off the whale and entered free-fall. He spread all his limbs in an X and faced the whale.

"I'm doing you a huge favor! Listen up! It's because of you, Rem died and I had to go through so much shit!"

Time stopped, it always did when Subaru talked about Shi ni Modori. This time though, the darkness felt much more... personal, or intimate. He swore he could hear someone whisper into his ear.

"I... ...v... y..."

Then the familiar hand slithered through his body. Subaru felt like shivering because of it, but time was stopped and he could do nothing. The hand clamped on his heart, and Subaru felt his brain gasp for blood. His heart seemed to shatter within him a thousand times over.

Taking a deep breath, Subaru uncurled himself back into the X formation. To anyone who could smell it, the witch's scent was so potent around him it was almost solid.

"I made it back!'

The whale started to nosedive towards Subaru, before an icicle pierced its lower jaw, sending it careening away from its meal. The head of Rem's Morningstar sailed past Subaru and the chains wrapped around him. Subaru screamed like any sane person would when being violently tugged through the air. His momentum stopped when Rem caught him.

"Thanks for the treat!"

"Wha?"

Unbeknownst to Subaru, he had face-planted into Rem's breasts.

The two watched as the Hakugei careened towards the Flugal Tree.

—

The momentum of Meiss slamming into the whale clone caused the lighter version to be pushed back a fair distance. Meiss once again grabbed the side of the whale and held on, much to the protest of his screaming forearms. The cracks in his skin started to ooze blood again. Meiss gritted his teeth, and used normal Dolorem to push off the whale. The same marbled light erupted from his back as he reached the height of his jump. Meiss screamed, a guttural animalistic screech.

"WRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAGHH!"

Three tendrils of energy shot from him in the marbled colors of orange and cyan. Meiss flipped in the air, the tendrils lengthening out and following his momentum. They impacted the whale, and cut through it like it was made of hot butter. Half the smoldering face of the whale separated from the body, and fell to the ground.

His short burst of adrenaline spent, Meiss fell to the earth, barely activating Indifferentia to save himself. A Demi-human rushed over to heal him, though it didn't do much as he was barely a novice. Ferris rushed over when he was done gaping at the display of sheer power. He took over and glared at Meiss as he healed him.

"Hey... Tell them... That-"

Ferris pressed a palm onto Meiss' stomach, eliciting a whimper in response.

"You're nyot dying, save the final words for nyever."

"Let me..."

Meiss blacked out.

—

Subaru and Rem rode Patrasche alongside the tree, the original Hakugei in pursuit. As they passed the Flugal tree, the side of it was blown apart. The massive thing toppled over, pinning the whale underneath. The impact shook the ground, and a blast of air shot out in all directions. Subaru and Rem were unable to escape, and were blown away in the gust.

Subaru coughed, he saw Patrasche get to her feet in his peripheral vision.

Rem.

Subaru whipped his head around and saw her in a crumpled heap a few meters away. He crawled over and lifted the weightless girl in his arms.

"Rem! Open you eyes! REM!"

Subaru screamed, his face paper-white. Patrasche came over and nuzzled the frail girl, this did nothing to ease Subaru's spirits. The casualties were as low as they could possibly be, but this one casualty would be too much.

"Rem, this... no. I need you..."

There was no reaction. The light in her eyes whenever Subaru called her name was gone. There was no movement in her body at all. Subaru wailed to the sky, his tears falling fresh. It seemed as if the world was upside down. He couldn't remember right from left. Only the girl in his arms remained constant.

"Suba... ru... ku?"

"Rem!"

Rem's eyes twitched, and rested at half-open. There was still no sign of radiance in them, and the reflection of Subaru was frail. She was fading away.

"Oh thank God... Rem! It's me. Do you recognize me? It's Subaru. Rem you aren't doing so good, so just hang on..."

"Subaru-kun... Rem is glad you are safe..."

She didn't even acknowledge her own state, only confirming Subaru's well-being. She smiled as if filled with relief.

"The beast, what happened to it..?

"It fell. It's been defeated. It went well. Everything went well! I'm ok! Everything... It's all thanks to you."

"Is that so... I guess Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama will be fine too..."

"It'll all go well. Leave it to me. So Rem, please don't say anything and just rest... Wait, your eyes, don't close them! Crap, what should I do..."

Subaru didn't want to force Rem to continue talking, but what if it was too much for her? If she were to stop talking Subaru would be uneasy. What should he do? Subaru didn't know. What could he give? Subaru didn't know.

So he did what he could do, and hugged her, tightly.

"That hurts Subaru-kun."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I want to make sure you don't go anywhere."

"Rem won't go anywhere... she will always... be by Subaru's side."

Subaru felt Rem go cold in his arms, and his throat seized up. He could almost hear the life slipping from her. It felt like everything was leaving.

"Rem? Rem! Please Rem... Open your eyes..."

"Rem feels kind of sleepy. Sorry, Rem will sleep a little, but when Rem wakes up, she will-"

"NO! You don't have to do anything. It's fine if you're just beside me, so please... Rem..."

Though she was within Subaru's arms, she seemed to be leaving, so Subaru frantically raised his voice. Yet it seemed his voice did not reach her.

"Is it ok, if Rem asks for a selfish favor?"

"Say it! Say anything. I'll listen to anything and I'll do it."

"Say 'I love you'."

Her voice was faint, barely reaching Subaru's ears. He wiped his wet face, then brought his face closer to hers.

"Suki."

Subaru shook his head, in his emotion he had used Japanese, he changed back to using this world's language.

"I love you. Isn't that obvious? If you aren't with me I couldn't live on."

These were his true feelings. Rem smiled.

"Rem is happy."

Accepting his words, Rem blushed. Her eyes slowly started to close.

"Wait!"

"I love you, Subaru-kun."

"Don't fuck with me, stay with me please! You're going to leave me again?"

Subaru felt he couldn't bear a future without Rem. She had become too important to him, compared to his first week at the mansion so long ago.

"The future where I talk while smiling, I need you for that. I don't want this..."

"In that future, is it ok if Rem stays at your side?"

"Isn't that obvious? I won't let you go anywhere else. You are mine and I won't let anyone have you."

"Proposal accepted!"

"Heh?"

Subaru made a dumb-sounding noise as Rem seemed to come back to life. She opened her eyes, the luster returning to them. She raised herself to be eye-level with the still processing Subaru. She smiled.

"Subaru's side is reserved for Rem. You can't take it back, ok?"

Death was nowhere near this girl now, and she talked with a playful tone. She rested her thumb on Subaru's lips, cradling his face with the rest of her hand.

"Kimi... OMAE!"

"Yes, this is Subaru-kun's Rem. In the flesh."

Subaru was speechless. While it would be normal to be angry with someone who was feigning death, Subaru was extremely happy.

"Really? Now you've got me all embarrassed Rem."

Subaru, face red, sighed.

"If you died, I would have died as well."

"Wah, for you to think that much of Rem, Rem is a lucky girl isn't she?"

"I'm not kidding either."

In response to Rem's light smile, Subaru said something full of truth. He would definitely try to redo to save her. Rem now had such a place in his heart that required this.

"Well Rem guesses she shouldn't go off and die then?"

"Even if you were to die, I wouldn't let you."

The two affectionately butted foreheads. They were so close their breathing could be felt by the other. It made Subaru uneasy. Of course, he felt himself being pulled towards Rem's pink lips. His heartbeat sped up as she drew in closer...

"You two, isn't that about enyough?"

Ferris, who had been watching from afar, wobbled up with a severely injured Meiss. It truly was a crime to interrupt the two flirts. Meiss seemed to think so.

"FELIX!"

Ferris poked him in the ribs and he all but collapsed, unable to retaliate.

"Calling out so desperately like that, Subaru-kyun you cute thing. 'I need you, I can't live without you!'"

"Shut up Felix! Reflect on yourself, staring at us like the weirdo you are!"

"Anyways, if you were to calm down and think rationally you'd understa-"

"RATIONALLY? It's you who isn't thinking rationally! Why would you destroy such a moment between these two? You're a monster Felix! A monster! Of course he would freak out if someone he holds dear-"

Ferris dropped Meiss, who proceeded to yelp in pain.

"Ow, uhhh you suck..."

"Say that again and your healing rights will be revoked."

Meiss rolled over and raised his head to stare at Ferris.

"Monster."

Ferris abandoned the boy on the ground and moved to heal Rem. He ignored the yelling of an embarrassed Subaru. Meiss painfully crawled over, leering at the cat-boy. He settled next to Subaru and Rem, face to the sky. His skin cracked again as he drew in a long breath.

"Did you get him, Rem?"

"Yes, Rem is sure of it."

—

**Shi ni Modori - Return upon Death; Subaru’s power**


	6. Return to Arlam

Meiss rolled his shoulders, the rough fabric of a simple mantle all that covered his upper body. His running pants were in bad shape, but they covered the important parts. Actually they were now shorts.

"It sucks I lost my clothes, but Felix got me back to... 70 to 80 percent-ish."

Meiss poked at his forearms. The skin was still slightly inflamed but they no longer hurt. Subaru walked up behind Meiss, Rem was in his arms, Ferris not far behind. Meiss looked at the exhausted girl, who snuggled into Subaru.

"It's a shame that Felix can't do anything about fatigue. She really pushed herself Subaru, should we send her back to the capital to recover?"

Subaru glanced at Rem, his eyes soft and far from the scariness they usually exhibited.

"Yeah, Felix was just talking about sending her back, doctor's orders."

The two walked to the carriage that Crusch was boarding. Ferris walked ahead and exchanged a few words with her, before beckoning Subaru to the carriage.

"Rem... Time to wake up..."

Subaru poked the sleeping beauty a few times. Her eyelids fluttering open, she immediately smiled when she saw Subaru. Then she realized Subaru was placing her in a carriage.

"Subaru-kun?"

Rem tried to climb out of the carriage, only to almost fall off. Subaru caught her, the momentum driving him to the ground.

"Careful! You've exhausted yourself Rem, you can't move. Felix said you need time to recover, so you're going back to the capital for a few days."

Rem grabbed the front of his tracksuit in a vise grip.

"Rem shall not. It hurts to be so far, Rem can't bear it! Rem knows you're going into more trouble, Rem wants to be the first to reach out to you. So please..."

Subaru set her on the carriage bed, and grabbed one of her hands in both of his.

"You don't have to worry. You've already saved me so many times. Don't you realize how much you've done for me up till now? I want you to help me from now on too, but this time, leave everything to me."

Rem smiled, tears dotting the corners of her eyes.

"Right now, your hero is as zealous as an oni. I'll find a way, I always do."

The tears in her eyes rolled onto Rem's cheeks. She pulled Subaru into a hug, which he returned.

"Rem's hero is the greatest in the world!"

Meiss walked away, he felt weird and immoral for listening in. Even so, those two brought a smile to his face. If it was within his power, he would do all he could to make sure they got some semblance of a happy ending in this cruel world.

The carriages started to ride away, and Meiss watched the Demi-human that was injured in the battle, and another, smaller, Demi-human he didn't know start talking with Subaru.

The buff Demi-human, Ricardo, nodded his head towards the road the carriages left on mere minutes ago. A small group of mercenaries was coming over a hill. Meiss saw Subaru scowl as the group came closer.

—

"All right..."

Subaru sat down in front of the tight semicircle that everyone made around him to hear what they were to do.

"Thanks to all of you, the Hakugei is dead. But that's not the end of it. I have a score to settle with the Witch Cult guys that picked a fight with me. Once that's done, the Hakugei subjugation will be complete."

The small Demi-human piped up.

"The Witch Cult is next!?"

Her brother adjusted his monocle, worry on his face.

"Can we trust allegations that the Hakugei and the Witch Cult are connected? We only came as reinforcements for the Hakugei subjuga-"

The Mimi hit her brother with a wooden staff, eliciting words of anger from him.

"If you can't believe him then just believe me!"

Subaru forced a smile.

"I'd prefer it if you believed me, though."

"I don't like to recall it, but I've been up against the Witch Cult before. I learned that they were connected back then."

Ferris turned to Wilhelm.

"Didn't you look into that, Will-ji?

"I would not term it definitive, but their appearances coincided in several aspects."

"That makes it doubly credible! On that note, we're going to head for the Mathers domain. The Witch Cult is lurking in the forest there. The way we defeat them is as simple as it gets. Raid them before they can read our movements, and crush them!"

One of the older soldiers asked about the villagers safety, and Subaru revealed that a band of merchants was hired to evacuate Arlam in exchange for buying all their goods. A letter, written by Rem, was also on its way to the mansion to inform them of the events that were about to unfold. Meiss raised his hand, feeling like an elementary student. Of course he knew the answer to his own question already, but he was asking it for those who didn't have much knowledge on the Cult.

"What should we expect from the Cult? They must have at least a small bit of firepower to their name to be so infamous."

Subaru turned his head to the sky.

"Most of the members wield fire magic, and have uncanny accuracy with daggers. Other than that, one person that would truly give us trouble would be the insane man. He has something called the 'Authority of Sloth'. It's scary invisible hands that come out of him to attack."

Meiss grimaced. Wilhelm closed his eyes and looked down.

"While that last comment unsettles me, I would like to say that we have never enjoyed such an advantage in a battle with the Witch Cult before."

"Yeah, with Julius and his crew, we don't have to worry about numbers."

Julius raised his hand, and corrected Subaru.

"My name is Juli. Please take care to use it."

"That'll be a hassle in casual settings!"

Subaru exclaimed loudly at Juli for a few seconds, before composing himself and looking back at the semicircle.

"The Whale was so strong I thought I would die. Some of us did, or vanished, never to return. Let's win this battle without any losses, let's all return home alive!"

Meiss watched everyone mount their Ground Dragons and Ligers. He helplessly looked around as he was the only one without a ride.

"Maybe I should have taken Crusch up on her Ground Dragon offer..."

—

Subaru trekked through the woods. He hopped over a fallen log. Almost immediately, purple-garbed members of the Cult surrounded him. Just like moths to a flame, they sensed the Witch's miasma on him.

"Wow, you guys are quite diligent. That doesn't matter though, and I would appreciate it if you would not get in my way."

The cult members bowed in respect, before vanishing into the air.

"If they would have stuck around long enough for me to order them to gather their stuff and leave, this would have been so much easier..."

Subaru palmed the foliage to the side as he stepped out into a clearing. A familiar stone tunnel loomed in front of him. He blinked hard to dispel the image of Rem's twisted and mangled body from his mind.

A man in a purple cloak greeted him from across the clearing.

"I have been waiting for you, believer in love. In the Witch Cult, I am Sin Archbishop, representing Sloth, Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti. I welcome you, beloved child, blessed with love."

Petelgeuse did a little dance and repeated "Wonderful!" Over and over.

"Hey. I really appreciate the unexpected welcome. But I'm not sure I really feel this 'love' you keep bringing up."

Petelgeuse waved his arms in front of himself.

"It always begins suddenly. Everyone, on a certain day, realizes they are loved. They feel the love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love! The love!"

Subaru watched Petelgeuse shake back and forth as he repeated that phrase.

"Um, and what am I supposed to do now?"

"Ah... The Witch's love is generous upon you... You wouldn't happen to be Pride, would you? Of the six Sin Archbishops, only Pride's seat remains vacant..."

Petelgeuse slid across the ground creepily until he was mere inches from Subaru. Subaru saw his invisible hands lift him an almost unnoticeable distance off the ground to preform this action. He tried not to look at them, lest he give away the fact that he could see them.

"You have received the Gospel, haven't you?"

"The Gospel?"

Petelgeuse closed his eyes and spread his arms.

"My brain... trembles!"

Petelgeuse bended into an impossible position, his only support being his unseen hands, and produced a black book. It was akin to a small journal. He started rapidly flipping the pages.

"Presentation of the Gospel, proof of love... Proof! Proof! Proof! Proof!"

Petelgeuse slammed the book shut dramatically, he raised his wide eyes to Subaru.

"My Gospel has no account of you. Then why did you appear here? Why visit here? What fortune are you here to deliver?!"

Subaru looked at the black book worriedly, this was new...

"Oh! So that's the Gospel! I see, I see... I understand. You should have just said so."

Subaru started frisking himself, searching for a book that was never there. When he turned up empty, he apologized.

"Ah, darn it! I'm sorry! I used it as a coaster and it got a bit messy..."

...

"So I threw it out."

Petelgeuse looked dumbfounded for a second, as if Subaru was the insane one, not him. The awkward stillness lasted for several seconds.

"Proof of love! TAIDA NO KEN'NŌ... MIEZARU TE!"

Unseen hands shot out from Petelgeuse and reached for Subaru. Subaru jumped back as the hands grabbed at him.

"What?"

"Miezaru Te? It's a pretty lousy invisible hand if I can see it!"

"You can see my Miezaru Te?!"

Subaru dodged another attack, as he hit the ground two sonic screams shot over his head. The tunnel collapsed as Mimi and Tivey shot a second volley at it.

"Prepare to be buried alive! Suffer as you regret the things you've done!"

Petelgeuse looked at the remains of the collapsed tunnel behind him.

"How... How could this be? My fingers, so cruelly, so mercilessly, so chaotically, so arbitrarily, so artlessly, so meaninglessly... My brain... My brain trembles!"

Mimi and Tivey dashed away.

"Yes... Yes, of course..."

Petelgeuse looked menacingly at Subaru. Rage pulsed through his veins and spilled from his scalp where clumps of hair were torn out.

"Fine... Fine. I understand. Let's do this. I'm ready to do this. The time has come to learn which of us is worthy of her love! Her love! Yes, her love!"

"Sorry to interrupt your fun, but I have other people lined up to take you on."

Meiss shot out from behind the pile of rubble. He landed behind Petelgeuse and slammed his body into the ground so hard he bounced. Meiss caught him at the height of the bounce and held him out for Wilhelm to split in half.

Meiss then slammed his upper body into the ground and applied pressure to Petelgeuse's head. His hair caught on fire as Meiss's hand heat-carved it's way through his skull.

"Woah, woah! Meiss he's already dead!"

Meiss wiped his hand on the mantle he wore. His blue eyes seemed to pierce through Subaru when he looked over. His normally round and soft eyes seemed to turn as hard and cold as ice for a second.

"You never know, I heard one of them can regenerate from almost nothing..."

Subaru widened his eyes, and scooted away from Petelgeuse's body.

Ferris looked at the body, and decreed that he was very much dead.

Mimi and Tivey started looting the Sin Archbishop.

"Doesn't look like he's carrying anything useful."

Subaru squatted down, his face scrunched.

"You're ransacking his body like its the obvious thing to do... I don't know how I feel- You too Meiss?!"

Meiss looked up, a stress ball in his hands.

"You get the best items from bosses like these, don't you?"

"MEISS! One of the first things I learned was that this is no game here!"

Meiss grimaced at his failed joke before pocketed the stress ball as Tivey pulled out the Gospel. Upon learning what it was, he tossed it away like someone would swat a bug when in bed. Subaru picked it up and flipped through the pages.

"Felix, can you read this?"

"Waah! Nyo way! Don't point that thing at me! And don't do something as stupid as trying to read a Gospel!"

Subaru closed the book and pocketed it.

Mimi looked up at everyone.

"Hey, hey. We got the ones here, we should go kill the rest of them!"

Disturbing.

—

Subaru rode Patrasche next to Ferris and his Ground Dragon. They were on a trail heading towards Arlam village and the mansion to evacuate it.

"Subaru-kyun, you should really make up with Julius soon."

"We already did that, didn't you see?"

"I knyow you still harbor resentment subconsciously."

"Ah... all right."

Subaru pulled up close to Julius and his Ground Dragon.

"So... Hey... There's something I wanted to say to you..."

A blue petal floated past Subaru, catching his eye. When he turned back, the world was covered in blue fog. Everyone was gone, only Subaru and a frozen Patrasche remained. Subaru hopped off her and yelled out for everyone. He covered his nose as an intense smell wafted over him. It smelled like someone had overused floral perfume. It was headache inducing.

"Don't tell me... Did I do this somehow? Do I finally have a useful power? HAHA! Behold, The WoAAAHHHHHHH-"

Suddenly, vines wrapped around Subaru's arms and attempted to pull them from his body. He dug his heels into the ground and pulled back. The vines were coming from a small blue flower on the side of the road. Subaru looked over at the Ground Dragon.

"Patrasche?"

She was unmoving.

"So time must really be stopped, that doesn't make any sense! It's been well over what the Witch does. Are time stops even possible for a non-Witch? No, I can’t think of anyone having such an op ability, this must be an illusion. It's all fake!"

A red orb flew from Subaru, surprising him. It floated over to the flower and touched it. The blue flower instantly combusted into dust and the vines died. The sudden release sent Subaru onto his rear, he quickly scrambled to his feet though. The blue shifted to normal colors again.

"Subaru?"

Meiss stood over him, the front of his mantle was dirty. Julius was behind him. Subaru looked at Julius.

"It was you?"

"That tone means it's definitely you. I cannot imagine my subconscious creating such an accurate depiction of you."

The two looked back at the carriage line to see most people recovering from something. Meiss didn't look back though, he scanned the road ahead and the trees.

"I'm assuming you guys got the blue haze thing too?"

"This is a bewitching spell, only us three have returned to normal."

Julius opened his palm and six spirits circled it.

"How did you break free?"

"I burned a flower."

"I crushed a blue flower."

Subaru and Meiss responded at the same time. Julius whispered to the spirits. Two of them floated up and created a large spark. Subaru immediately doubled over, clutching his head.

"Subaru! Juli what did you do?"

"I told my spirits to show everyone the way out of the illusion, his spirit affinity must be high for it to affect him this much. What about you? You don't look even the slightest bit bothered."

"... Spirits don't seem to like me."

A shadow passed overhead. Julius and Meiss both looked up as a figure in a white cloak descended on front of Subaru. They swiped their leg underneath him and picked him up, preparing to dash off.

"Wrr, Dolorem!"

Meiss' legs glowed under his new shorts as he shot towards the figure. He dived for Subaru, aiming to break the figure's grip and go sailing past them. The figure held fast, and Meiss pulled both of them along. Realizing this, he elbowed the figure with a normal arm hard, then kicked Subaru away to focus on the attacker. The figure hopped away, but was met with Wilhelm's sword.

"That will be quite enough."

Ferris and Ricardo jumped behind the figure, who removed their hood.

"Kill me. I won't accept this disgrace."

Subaru's eyes widened, and Meiss spoke in confusion.

"Rem? But she has pink hair... and looks meaner."

"That's Rem's twin, Ram"

"Creative names, huh?"

—

Everyone settled as Ram, Subaru, Ferris, Wilhelm, Juli, and Meiss stepped behind a carriage to talk.

"And? What is the meaning of all this? Barusu, you'll explain it to me, right?"

"That's what I'd like to ask you. You attacked us first. What were you thinking?"

"You shouldn't have to ask what I was thinking. It's rich, coming from an ingrate like you."

"Ingrate?"

"You are, aren't you? After all Roswaal-sama did for you... Once you're done with him you go wag your tail for another master."

"Woah, hang on I think you're mixing up your stories!"

"So this is what it means to bite the hand that feeds you."

Meiss frowned.

"We sent a letter that should have explained our reasoning for being here."

"Yeah, wasn't it delivered to the mansion?"

"Yes, I did get a letter from the capital, but... It was quite amusing sending me a blank letter."

"Blank?"

"Ah, I remember learning about these in history, Subaru. Blank notes are kinda like passive-aggressive ways of saying you don't want to talk."

Julius cut in.

"Yes, though it could easily be interpreted as a declaration of war."

Subaru recoiled.

"This is a huge misunderstanding! Do I look that clever to you?"

"So this is what it means to bite the hand that feeds you."

Meiss raised a finger.

"While I admire the amount of fucks you give, Ram, was it? We're kinda on a tight clock here."

"Well, I can't say it enough. But I get the gist now. The blank letter was some kind of mistake, and you're still Emilia-sama's dog. Correct?"

"Dog? Not really... Ok sure, dogs are family too. In any case, these guys are reinforcements. They're friends. We pulled them together to wipe out the Witch Cult. Speaking of, Meiss was right about the clock. We need to start evacuating the villagers."

"You shouldn't be happy settling for the title of dog."

"I know."

Everyone boarded carriages or mounted Ground Dragons. Subaru put his hand to his chin.

"Rem wrote the letter... It arrived blank... Nothing was wrong with the messenger when he returned, so how did that happen?"

Subaru smacked his face hard as his train of thoughts got dark. They killed the Hakugei, nothing could have erased her this time.

—

The carriages were parked in a semicircle around Arlam's well. Subaru had just gotten done with convincing the villagers to flee. He walked over to Julius, who was sitting on a wall. The two talked for a second before starting to walk off. Meiss ran over to them.

"Can you fit another in the party? This is the Emilia-camp's area right? I have literally nowhere to go, so you mind me staying when this is over?"

"No, but that's not really up to me to decide. I'm gonna go get Felix, we need at least one Crusch-camp member to smooth things over with the blank note."

Suddenly, a loud explosion cracked apart the air. A large fireball rose from the villages center, smoke billowed through the streets.

Julius ran off, and a large piece of rock sailed towards Subaru. Meiss activated Dolorem, dived in front of Subaru, and punched the boulder apart. It split into a few pieces, one of which nailed Subaru in the skull. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Meiss cursed at himself and slung Subaru over his shoulder. He hopped on top of a building and cursed out loud. The village center was a smoking crater, Julius and a few other knights were fighting Witch Cult members around the crater. Meiss spotted Ferris perching himself on a wall, light enveloping his lower half.

Meiss hopped off, and dashed over. Ferris was using a large brick to hold himself up as Meiss landed next to him.

"Ferris! What the hell happened!"

"There was a Finger among the merchants! They stowed away in the carriages and we didn't take care of them. I even had to revive myself...”

"Damnit! You must've had a reason you didn't tell me about the Finger so I'm not gonna ask. Anything you can do for Subaru?"

"Get me clothes first."

Meiss set Subaru on the ground, Ferris began healing his head. Meiss found a slightly crispy burlap sack and gave it to Ferris. Meiss hopped around and sorted through dead and injured, bringing the injured over to Ferris.

"Start attacking the root of the problem, Meiss! With you going all out that should be easy!"

"I wasn't completely clear-headed when I killed the whale clone, I usually try not to go all out!"

"Screw that! Why would you hold back!"

"Fine, but you're healing my electrical burns afterwards!" _I’m still not going to go full power._

"Elect-row what?"

Meiss dashed away. He felt warmth spread through his palms as Acedia activated. He decided to keep it only to his fists so no one would question what the snakes of light were.

He grabbed a Cultist's neck, the skin and muscle burning away as he constricted his hand. He threw the body at another Cultist who dodged. Meiss was faster though. He shot foreword and increased the heat. His hand Kakyoin-ed through the Cultist, leaving a smoking hole. He swiped his hand to the side, almost burning the body in half.

Meiss saw Wilhelm fighting one of the Fingers. Meiss sprinted over and launched himself at the Finger.

"WRYYYAGH!"

Meiss punched at the Finger's face, his hand almost effortlessly burning straight through it. Meiss touched the ground and slid across it several feet. Half a face missing, the Finger fell to the ground, dead. Meiss looked at Wilhelm for a second, before frost started to invade the sky.

—

Dirt, rocks, and sticks pummeled Subaru as he was dragged away by Unseen hands. He tried kicking them off to no avail. Behind him he heard Julius running at full sprint towards him. The hands pinned him against a wall as the the Finger stepped into the open. Subaru felt an intense nausea split his skull again as Julius activated nect. Somehow, Subaru forced his eyes open to watch the fight.

Julius closed his eyes, and looked though Subaru's. He could see the unseen hands when they killed Petelgeuse, so now should surely be the same. Julius swiped at his side, destroying an unseen hand. Yep, Subaru could still see them. Killing the Finger was rather easy, with a terse flash of light, it was rendered defenseless. Julius twisted his sword into the Finger's gut.

The Finger embraced death with open arms.

"My life is spilling forth, my... brain... tremb-"

The Finger fell to its knees, then slumped to its side. Julius looked at Subaru, who was rubbing his head after being dropped on it. He got up and started walking over to Julius.

"That's the third Finger we've killed, Subaru. There should be either two or sev- Subaru?"

Subaru clutched his head. He seemed to be having an internal conflict. The little red spirit was flung from his body and returned to Julius. It felt as if sludge was working its way though Subaru's veins.

"AGH! Julius! Stay away from me! Sloth is-"

"Subaru?"

Subaru stood rigid.

"Wrong, I am a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing Sloth... Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti!"

Julius drew his sword.

"Vacate that body! Subaru! Realize what you're about to do! Remember what you came here to do!"

"What? Don't 'what' me you moron! I am Petelgeuse Rom- Shut up! I'm Natsuki Subaru!"

Subaru clutched at his head and stumbled into Julius.

"Julius, kill me. If you don't we can't win"

"No, I can't do that Subaru! Wasn't there something you meant to tell me?"

"Sorry, looks like I won't get the chance. If you won't, then I will."

Subaru grabbed the hilt of Julius' sword and kicked him away. He fumbled around for a few seconds before the tip rested against his sternum.

"Subaru, no!"

—

Emilia felt tears down her face as she was praised for killing a Finger. She looked at the man incased in ice. He had such a creepy smile. Why did she feel some sort of connection to him?

She looked away at the remaining carriages, and saw her white cloak drifting in the wind. She grabbed it from the air, and saw a man land next to a carriage, breathing heavy.

"Snow. Subaru mentioned this might happen."

Emilia tilted her head at the man. He knew Subaru? The man looked at her.

"Hmm, white hair... purple eyes... Which means you must be Emilia, right?"

"Yes, my name is Emilia..."

"I wish it could be under better circumstances, but nice to meet you. My name is Meiss; a new friend of Subaru's."

So he did know Subaru. His manner of speaking was also similar. Meiss walked up and extended his hand. Emilia shook it.

"Cool ears. Let's go find Subaru, shall we?"

Emilia widened her eyes, Subaru had also said her ears were cool.

"Ah, sorry if that's a touchy subject. I heard Elfs have a bad rep."

So he was also ignorant of common knowledge like Subaru.

The two started to walk off. Emilia lagged behind as she felt her stomach drop. Meiss turned back, and upon seeing the look of worry on Emilia's face, sprang onto a building to look around.

"Oh, that's not good. Where is he..."

Meiss remembered that Emilia was still on the ground, so he looked back. Emilia was running full sprint in a different direction. Meiss sprinted over, catching up in mere seconds with the help of Dolorem. He picked her up, and jumped on top of a building.

"Where! Where is he!"

Emilia pointed in a direction, and Meiss kicked off the building at full speed. Wind whipped at their ears and Emilia's hair as they shot from roof to roof.

"Here."

Meiss landed on a street that was mostly unaffected by the Witch Cult. Only two bodies were here, and Julius stood in shock in the middle of the street.

Meiss set Emilia down, and started to walk towards Julius. Then he noticed that one of the bodies was Subaru. With Julius's sword sticking out of it. Meiss felt his blood run cold, he could feel his heartbeat in his fingertips. He felt something snap, the release of pressure nigh intoxicating. Almost instantly electricity snaked around him, pulsating in tune with his heart.

"JULIUS!"

Meiss screamed at the top of his lungs. He unconsciously flexed his muscles as he murderously glared at Julius. Electricity arced up and down Meiss, carving burning paths down his body. It started to arc along the ground around him. Emilia backed up as a bolt singed her cloak. Meiss stepped towards Julius as more than double the amount of Acedia tendrils he could normally summon sprang from his back. The electricity flared as Meiss pointed his hand at Julius. Then, the arcs died down as the tendrils wrapped around the knight.

"WHAT HAPPENED! He was the only one, THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WHO WAS LIKE ME!" His voice cracked on the word "like."

Julius looked at the ground, offering no resistance. Emilia stepped in before Meiss could start constricting or burning Julius.

"What happened here?"

Julius looked at her for a second, then back at the ground.

"The Fingers are spare bodies that Sloth can flee to when he is killed. He made Subaru into one of them. Subaru resisted as best he could, and used my sword to stop himself from harming anyone."

Meiss felt his eye twitch, then he relaxed his body. Anger was replaced with sorrow at what had happened.

"Oh god, Rem is going to kill me... Not that I would stop her..."

Meiss palmed his face as he fell to the ground. Emilia sat in front of him and reached out. Meiss flinched away when her hand touched his shoulder.

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That he loved you?"

Emilia drew away in shock.

"For being a new friend, I'm surprised he shared something so deep."

Meiss rubbed his face dry.

"Nice evade... He didn't tell me, I figured it out myself."

Emilia removed Julius' sword and wrapped Subaru's body in her cloak. The three returned to the village center and a small funeral was held. The kids that Subaru routinely played with cried harshly. A small orange-haired girl cried the loudest. Meiss looked away, hollow inside.

While everyone grieved openly, Emilia walked over to the man who was as still as a statue.

"Meiss... I... I'm returning to the forest I came from. The home of the Elfs, Elior Forest. I'm going to bury Subaru there."

"Some would want him here, but I think going with you would be the best. He would want to be with you."

Emilia sadly looked at the ground. She raised her face to Meiss once more.

"Are you ok? It's not good to internalize stuff like this."

"I'm going to kill them. Sloth wasn't the only Sin Archbishop. I'm going to hunt all of them down and kill them one by one. There are seven deadly sins in the current incarnation right? Plus the other two. So I will be killing seven more people at least. Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, Vanity, Lust, Pride, Envy... I'll make sure they never do something like this again."

Emilia looked shocked at Meiss. She saw the coldness in his eyes and realized she wouldn't be able to change his mind. Meiss turned and walked off.

"Emilia? I'll come visit you and Subaru one of these days."

Emilia looked at his back. It disappeared into the crowd. Meiss was gone.


	7. Death from Knowing

Subaru opened his eyes wide, drawing in a sharp breath. He unconsciously squeezed his arms shut.

Meiss saw Subaru tighten his grip on Rem. He sprang over and pried him off when she made a sound of pain. Subaru fell to the ground, a blank look on his face.

"Subaru-kun?"

"I- I'm sorry, I just felt weird all of the sudden."

Meiss crossed his arms, he had already guessed Subaru had foresight. Was that information getting beamed into his skull? Meiss turned to Rem.

"Has he done something like that before?"

"Now that you mention it Meiss, he has."

Meiss turned back to Subaru, his gaze darkening.

"Got anything you want to tell us?"

"Uh... Yeah a bit. Actually, you said you weren't 100 percent yet... Why don't you ride with Rem back to the Capital? It would suck if something happened to you."

"You're right that I don't feel the greatest. Are you sure? You kinda hinted that something might happen to me."

"Yes, I am absolutely certain. I'm confident we have enough people to take on the WitchCult without you."

Meiss stiffened.

"Witchcult? Did you say Witchcult? ... Well now I'm definitely coming along. Sorry, but I have some... personal things to discuss with them."

Subaru furrowed his brows, that same cold, hard as ice stare came across Meiss' face. It was unnerving.

—

"Man, I hope she doesn't attack us again..."

Subaru handed a large wooden sign to Ricardo and Wilhelm to hold up. They mounted their Ground Dragons and sped off into the forest.

Ram met up with the group. Subaru went with Wilhelm and Ram to convince Emilia to evacuate the villagers. He would wear Emilia's cloak to disguise himself.

The small party returned to Arlam to see the villagers boarding carriages in preparation to leave. Half of them would go to the capital, the other half would go to Sanctuary, a small village deep in the forest.

Ferris pulled Subaru aside.

"We negotiated to buy the goods the merchants have. So we need to look them over Subaru-kyun."

"What? Shouldn't this be someone else's job?"

"It is, but in order to get this done faster, we're helping them."

The owner of the carriage stepped into the bed.

"I trust everything is going smoothly?"

Ferris jumped up and wrapped himself around the merchant.

"Yup! Everything is well!"

Ferris snaked his hand around the merchant's neck and poked it. The merchant convulsed violently for a few seconds before a wicked smile warped his face. Subaru looked on in shock as the floor started to smoke.

"You're too late."

—

Meiss pinched his nose as he smelled something burning. He caught a glimpse of a woman with snow-white hair board the carriage with all the kids. Something was definitely burning now, and Meiss scanned the area looking for the fire. He saw one of the carriages smoking, then in a flash remembered that one of the carriages was full of flammable oil. He snapped around and set up his three Quiescence bubbles just as the carriage exploded.

Meiss felt the ground hot against his face. He shakily rose into a kneeling position. How much lamp oil was in there? Did lamp oil even explode? Rising to his feet, he swiped smoke from his eyes. When it returned he activated Dolorem and swiped the air once more, clearing a small area around him. The clear air was expanded as Meiss made his way to the carriage with the kids. He saw them all huddled around the white-haired woman. He limped over and stood outside the bubble he put up.

"Everyone ok? Nothing hurts?"

The kids shook their heads, and the woman stood up. She looked around.

"What kind of magic is this that shielded us?"

Meiss took a few steps back, rubbing his leg.

"It's a... Divine Blessing. Yeah, the Divine Blessing of Shielding."

The woman looked at him funny, as if she saw straight through his lie. She sat back down with the kids.

"How long does it last?"

"Forever, or at least as long as I want it to. Unfortunately I'm going to have to remove it, so can we all move somewhere safer?"

The kids and the woman all got up and followed Meiss through the smoke. They settled inside a partially destroyed building.

"You look like one of those sweet people that are scary strong. Can I trust you to protect these children?"

The woman nodded and watched Meiss limp into the smoke.

—

Subaru awoke with a start. He sat up and looked around. The smoke seemed to be clearing. Ferris was a few feet away, healing himself.

"Felix... Wha..."

"There was a bag of explosive stones in the carriage. Nyothing we can do about that nyow."

Subaru stood up and thanked the spirit for shielding him. Then he saw Meiss crash into the ground. A Witch Cult member was pinned underneath him. Meiss drove a Cult dagger into the Cultist's head.

"What are you doing using a blade! You have those super strong light snakes! Why don't you use those?"

"Do you know what Sloth's Authority is? Blunt force won't destroy them, and I try not to go all out."

It was Subaru's turn to yell.

"Not going all out?! Meiss we kind of need that right now!"

Meiss narrowed his eyes before conceding. He yanked the Cult dagger from the Finger and tossed it aside. Then he jumped away, orange and cyan marbled light pouring from him. He probably would have still held back if Subaru wasn't there.

Meiss landed in front of another Cultist. His Authority was in full swing now. Meiss sent a tendril out to burn a hole through the Cultist. He jumped away, spotting Wilhelm fighting another Finger. Meiss could just barely see the faint purple hands closing in on Wilhelm. They looked like after images, but he could see them and that's all that mattered.

Wilhelm looked around himself for disturbances in the smoke. He swiped his sword through what seemed to be a gust of wind, destroying it. He turned towards the Finger, preparing to impale him. Suddenly, he heard a war cry of "WRYY!" above. Three rivers of colored light moved to intercept the invisible hands as Meiss shot into the Finger. The Finger collapsed under the strike, dead. Meiss gripped his leg as pain shot up it, he staggered for a second before he was steady.

Meiss looked at Wilhelm.

"You were right, I did hold back considerably.”

Wilhelm looked like he was about to respond, but then they both heard Subaru's scream cut through the air. Meiss dashed off, leaving Wilhelm behind.

—

Subaru clutched at a wall, hanging on for dear life as he was dragged off again. This time though, Julius was swamped with Cultists and couldn't save him. Ferris was too slow to catch him and was left running.

"SLOTH!"

Light shined from behind Subaru as the unseen hands let go of him. He turned around to see Meiss squaring off against a Finger.

"This makes the second Sin Archbishop I've met. If this goes on I might actually eradicate the Cult itself for being so fucking annoying!"

The finger spread its arms.

"Second you say? Who was the first Sin you encountered, One Who is Saturated in Love?"

Meiss narrowed his eyes, small pinpricks of shining blue hatred all that was visible.

"You can thank Gluttony for being the reason I have the Authority of Melancholy!"

Meiss launched himself at the Finger. With the cry of "WRAGH" an Acedia sprouted from his palm as he sliced at an unseen hand. Multiple unseen hands tried to attack him now, but he used Acedia to fend them off.

"You can see my Miezaru Te? My Authority, my proof of love is being seen by two people? Why, why, why, why, WHY!"

All ten of the unseen hands the Finger could muster were thrown at Meiss. He shot foreword to intercept them, the three Acedia tendrils putting in work to clear the way. Meiss dodged as an unseen hand shot past him, he grabbed it and used it to propel himself even closer to the Finger. The Finger raised his hand and pointed it in the direction of Subaru and Meiss.

"Taida!"

A wave of black light swept over the area.

Subaru doubled over, his head swimming, while Meiss pushed off the ground again. His fist collided with the Finger, raising the body into the air.

"Not gonna work on me, Sloth."

The Finger reached the top of its arc, and was punched even higher by Meiss before it could start falling again. Meiss jumped up again and grabbed the Finger, hurtling it into the ground. With another display of "WRYYYYYAGH!"Meiss shot out all three Acedia tendrils and they impaled the body, killing it.

Subaru stared in shock. He never realized how powerful Meiss was before. Was he still holding back? That was a scary thought.

"Haah... Haah... Subaru? You ok?"

"Y- Yeah, I think-"

Subaru doubled over, the spirit was flung from his body.

"NO! Not again..."

Meiss dived to catch Subaru as he fell over. Ferris caught up with them, breathing heavy. Meiss stood Suabru up as he started speaking gibberish.

"Subaru-kyun?"

"Subaru? No, my name is Petelgeuse Roman- Get out of my body!"

Subaru slapped himself before clutching his head again. Meiss stood rigid. Ferris slowly approached Subaru.

"Sloth can possess people? This is bad..."

"Felix! Do the thing- Wow! This body is such a good fit for me!- Stop speaking over me! Felix, do the paralyzing thing!"

Ferris hesitated, tears filling his eyes. Meiss widened his eyes in hopelessness as he stood unmoving. Ferris walked foreword and tapped Subaru on the shoulder. He fell to the ground, unmoving. Subaru turned to look at Meiss, pleading, unable to speak.

"Subaru, I- I can't."

"Do it! That is Subaru-kyun's wish! I didn't want to paralyze him, I despise myself for doing it but it had to be done!"

Meiss looked defeated, Subaru was wishing for death too easily. Or did he know this would happen through his foresight? Was he already content? No. He hadn't seen Emilia yet, or welcomed Rem back from her recovery. There must be some other reason.

"You're looping, right Subaru? The only way to activate it must be death, then. You'll return to the past, you will... Return upon Death."

The paralyzed man widened his eyes. Meiss raised his hand, orange and cyan energy sprouting forth.

"If I'm right, then I'm ok with this. You'll get it next Groundhog Day."

Subaru nodded, it was barely more than a twitch, but Meiss saw it.

A blackness darker than anything ever felt before invaded the clearing. Meiss placed his hand on Subaru's temple. Black hands, colder than the coldest night, wrapped themselves around Ferris' and Meiss' hearts. The Witch could not let anyone know. Meiss burned a hole into the side of Subaru's face as the black hands closed themselves around his heart. Blood leaked into his chest cavity. Meiss saw Ferris fall to the ground next to him. He clutched his chest as he saw a red splotch under his skin run down from the middle of his sternum. His lungs refused to pull in air, his head grew foggy and his vision tunneled. Meiss activated Indiferentia on his chest as the woman from before ran over.

"Subaru!"

Emilia ran towards the pile of bodies. The man who saved her before was leaning over Subaru. He rolled onto his back as she approached. She saw a large red mark run down his chest. Life returned to his eyes for a second as she skidded on her knees in front of Subaru's body. She raised his smoking head, not caring about her scraped knees.

"Subaru..."

The man coughed, he felt cold as he was attacked throughout his body. The Witch destroying his organs one by one as he refused to die. Frothy blood leaked from his mouth.

"Rem's gonna kill my ghost."

He struggled to look over at the woman, but she was focused on Subaru. White hair, purple eyes... Is she...?"

"Why, why would you go so far for me..."

Meiss hacked up more blood. He mumbled before coughing again to clear his mouth.

"He... Loves you. You're Emilia, right?"

Emilia looked up in shock. The man used present tense when Subaru was clearly dead. He was also dying, so it was probably that which was clouding his mind.

"Well... he'll probably get it... next time."

The man's blue eyes dulled, his body relaxed as he stopped the use of his Authority.

Emilia picked Subaru's body up. Puck materialized and snuggled up to her neck.

"Lia..."

"We're going back to Elior Forest, Puck. Can you use some ice to carry this man and Felix?"

Puck looked at the scene before him. The area had the Witch's miasma heavy on it. It was densest around Subaru and the boy.

He floated away from Emilia, and encased both bodies in ice. They started to float after Emilia as she walked towards Arlam's center.


	8. Lugunican Cuisine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo.
> 
> I must congratulate you for reading so far into this story. It means more than I thought it would.

Subaru inhaled sharply. He started to squeeze the person in his arms before remembering his Shi ni Modori updated to when he was hugging Rem. He quickly let go and stumbled back.

"Subaru-kun?"

"Sorry, I just remembered something and forgot myself for a moment."

Meiss crossed his arms, he had already guessed Subaru had foresight. Was that information getting beamed into his skull? Meiss turned to Rem.

"Has he done something like that before?"

"Now that you mention it Meiss, he has."

Meiss turned back to Subaru, his gaze darkening.

"Got anything to tell us?"

"Yeah... Something I just overlooked. Meiss, you said you're not at 100 percent right? Go with Rem to the capital, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I mean, I don't really give my 100 anyways, but if you need me-"

"Just go! ... If you aren’t 100 then don’t come. We can deal with the threat just fine Meiss. Go..."

Subaru pleaded with Meiss. He looked at Subaru worriedly, whatever happened to Meiss must be brutal for him to be so adamant about him leaving with Rem.

Subaru stood up. He had asked Ram to show him the note when he went to the mansion. It wasn't a fluke. There were no signs of tampering, it was as if words had never been on the paper at all.

Something happened to Rem between now and when she got back to the capital. But this time Subaru had enough information to beat Petelgeuse, so he could afford to send Meiss off.

Walking away, Subaru also thought about what Meiss had said. He had met another Sin Archbishop, Gluttony specifically. Subaru smacked his face and called himself stupid. If there was Sloth, then there should be the other six, right? Then what about Meiss' ability? He had straight-up confessed to having the Authority of Melancholy in the latest loop. Did this world use the old versions of the deadly sins? Then that would mean Envy would not exist, and Melancholy and Vainglory did. That didn't make any sense, so Subaru stored it in his head for later.

As he loitered around, waiting for Julius and his squad to arrive, Subaru pondered something else. Meiss had figured out his ability. No one had ever done that in his month living here. Maybe it was the concept of "respawning" that was prevalent in their world, or maybe he was just smarter than Subaru thought. Even so, if he randomly figured it out again it could cause disaster. There was no way to limit his brain though, so Subaru had to live in anxiety with it for now.

—

Meiss looked over at Rem. She was fast asleep on the carriage bed, using the mantle he was lent as a makeshift pillow.

The back of his neck started to tingle. Meiss rubbed it until the sensation left. Probably left-over jitters from the Hakugei. The tingling returned a few seconds later.

He drew in an annoyed breath, then released it. Meiss glanced at Crusch, who sat opposite him and Rem. Her gaze was fixed far behind them; near the tail of the carriage line was the head of the Hakugei that they had severed.

She turned to face Meiss.

"Seeing as we just put down one of the greatest scourges of this world less than an hour ago, you seem pretty calm Crusch."

"Honestly, I am surprised as well."

Crusch narrowed her eyes at the boy. Without him, they may not have succeeded, or at the very least lost more men. Even still, the strange powers he had were unlike any she had ever seen.

"Felix told me how you killed one of the clones single-handedly. How did you do that? Is it a Divine Blessing?"

Meiss shifted uncomfortably, calling his Authority a Divine Blessing was his go-to explanation. He rubbed his neck once more, the tingling growing stronger.

"Yea-"

"No it isn't."

Meiss sucked air in through his teeth, were his lies that easy to see through? He dropped his hand from his neck, abandoning it to tingle endlessly.

"No it's not... If you don't mind I would rather not talk... about... it..."

Meiss slowed his speech as he felt his face being pulled towards the front of the carriage. His neck tingled ever furiously. Crusch moved in next to him to peer over the driver.

The carriage in front of them split in two.

Now Meiss recalled what the tingling in his neck meant. He fell backwards as the driver turned to Crusch. Meiss flipped over and tapped Rem repeatedly on the cheek, trying to wake her.

"Mmh, Suba-wha..."

"Rem, get up! Something bad is-"

Meiss felt his blood run cold as he heard Crusch tell the driver to "Run him over."

Meiss sprang up, surprising Crusch with his expression.

"NO! Don't! It's an Archbishop!"

The man, with blinding white hair and average features, wore a black trench coat with white trimmings that was tied at the waist. He stood nonchalantly in the middle of the road, even as the carriage warped and split around him. He scratched his neck annoyedly.

Meiss shoved Crusch through the carriage's canvas siding, and scooped up Rem. He jumped out of the back of the carriage, his landing sending up a cloud of dust.

"My, my, to take another's life into-"

"SHUT UP!"

The Archbishop blinked in surprise. Meiss took his long hair in his fingers and brushed it over the top of his head, in a style reminiscent of Subaru's own. Now his glowing blue eyes were visible to the Archbishop.

The archbishop sneered at Meiss, flexing his hands as if wringing his neck. Clearly he was not used to being talked to in such a way.

"Meiss, he is an Archbishop."

Meiss knitted his brows at the Archbishop before looking at the small woman in his arms. Rem seemed uncomfortable being carried, so he set her down.

"I know, and there's another one too."

Rem widened her eyes and looked around, spotting another figure farther down the road. He had dark hair longer than Crusch's and wore a long brown cloak as his only piece of clothing.

Gluttony

Meiss looked down the road at him. His heart pounded as if in flames, he could feel his pulse in his palms as they clenched tightly. With great effort, he calmed himself. Surrendering to rage was never good when he did it.

Gluttony walked up to be side-by-side with the other Archbishop. The smile on his face was unnaturally wide, as if before a huge buffet. Technically he was in front of just that, people were cuisine for this lunatic. Meiss instinctively stepped foreword and shielded Rem with his arm. Crusch stood up on the other side of the road, eyeing the sword of a dead comrade.

Meiss tilted his head to Rem, remembering his previous encounter with Gluttony. He never bothered to remember his name. Meiss must not allow someone he knew to be erased, not again.

"Stay careful around the scruffy-looking one, that's Gluttony. Whatever you do, don't let him touch you."

Rem shuddered, the bizarreness of it tingling her spine. But now she knew what to avoid. Gluttony's companion though, he tore apart the carriage. The most terrifying thing about him was that he had done nothing but stand there. He had defeated a Ground Dragon in full sprint by just casually loitering in the road.

"This will not end in peace, when you have slain my subordinate so gruesomely. Identify yourself."

This was Crusch, who had retrieved the sword from the corpse and was now pointing it threateningly at the man. He put his hand to his chin and started nodding, as if in agreement.

"I see, gotcha. So you are ignorant of me, but I know much of you. Since in the capital, no, all over the country, people are talking about you. I mean, you're a candidate to the throne. Even someone as distant as I can at least understand-"

"Regulus."

Now Gluttony steps up, graciously saving everyone from Regulus's incessant chatter. His eyes, so wide and unnerving, focused down on the trio. His mouth, wide and salivating at the feast before his eyes, was now drawn in a tight line. He raised a finger, lone, accusatory, like a child tattling on a peer.

"I know this one."

Regulus looked at Gluttony's finger, tracing a line in the air to arrive at the sole man in the trio before them. His face ordinary, much like Regulus himself. His golden hair was slicked over his head, a long lock extended over his face, revealing it to be several centimeters lower than his chin. His hair would reach down to his shoulders if it was straight, but the very ends in the back curled up into a bushy, curly mess. His striking blue eyes reflected the sun, appearing to glow with the coldness of ice. His strange pants were in tatters, and he was shirtless. His physique was toned at best and had a barely noticeable red tint, as if irritated. Scars marred the outside of his left forearm.

Regulus scoffed, what about him could be so special? Then he remembered that these people had killed the Hakugei, a beast that had reigned undefeated for over four-hundred years. Ha, no possible way this one guy could kill a whale by himself. The blonde was probably some tactician at best. Regulus rolled his eyes and swiped his hand through the air horizontally. The blonde didn't even look like a man, he was surely younger, around fifteen if Regulus had to guess. No way he could stand in a fight-

Regulus choked when the boy stepped farther in front of the maid and _grabbed_ the air that Regulus had sent towards them. Crusch let out a startled yell and crumpled to the ground as she was unprotected. Her right arm sailed through the air.

Flying

Flying

Flying

Thump

Meiss winced when Crusch's arm hit the ground. Stupid, air is fluid, if he broke one part the rest would keep on moving. He should have set up a bubble to protect her. Rem let out an audible gasp, she had recovered enough on the carriage ride to be able to shakily run over to Crusch's unmoving body. The Archbishops eyed her run over and start to apply healing magic. Gluttony started foreword while Regulus stood in shock.

Meiss moved between the Archbishops and the women. Gluttony stopped, his hand twitching like a caged beast awaiting a ravenous meal. Regulus snapped out of his stupor and advanced to be at Gluttony's side, seeming to regard Meiss as a threat. Wordlessly, the two of them nodded before reciting their greetings.

"Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing the Cardinal Sin of Greed, Regulus Corneas."

"Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing the Cardinal Sin of Gluttony, Ley Batenkaitos."

Meiss narrowed his eyes. He let out a "teh" in response. He decided to humor them with their introductions. He recalled the first line in his gospel before he burned it. Meiss had tentatively reached for the book, ignorant of it's meaning and the owner of the hand it rested upon. He could still picture the hungry eyes of Ley as he glanced at the cursed pages for the first time. Meiss wasn't part of the Witch's Cult, he detested them with every molecule of his body. He revised the phrase to his liking.

"From beyond the waterfall, Cardinal Sin of Melancholy, Meiss Rhen."

—

"So that's how you guys were communicating."

Subaru, Ferris and Wilhelm examined the device akin to a small mirror. At their feet rested the bloody corpse of a Witch Cult member. Subaru looked out over the hill at Arlam. So peaceful. He hardened his resolve, this loop was the one, he felt it. Subaru focused on Julius' purple hair emerging from a carriage with a sack of stones. They were the explosive stones that had caused the destruction of the village in the previous two loops.

"Good, Julius is moving the explosive stones right now. All that's left is to get rid of the remaining fingers, we've already given the cult the bad schedule. My god it's going smoothly, this is a nice change of pace."

"I don't knyow how you do it, but your plans seem to account for everything."

Wilhelm nodded in agreement. Subaru rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

The three made their way down to the village and helped the residents with the carriages. Wilhelm and Ricardo filed into the woods with their separate groups to kill the remaining three fingers. The forces left over were guarding the town square where the civilians were.

A few minutes passed by before Julius emerged from the shrubbery.

"I put the bag near that cliff like you asked. It is far enough away as to not affect the village if it explodes."

"Thanks Julius-"

"Juli."

"-now all we need to do is get word that the fingers are dealt with, then I need to pay my favorite Archbishop a visit."

Subaru exaggerated a shudder though his body.

It was not long before both Ricardo and Wilhelm returned.

—

Ley, Regulus, and Meiss stared each other down like in an old western, waiting for someone to move or twitch before they drew their guns. They were so on edge a sudden gust of wind would set them off.

Rem gritted her teeth as she applied her scant healing magic on Crusch. It would definitely stop the bleeding at least. Rem was repulsed by it, but she couldn't stop herself from admiring the extremely clean cut. Veins, arteries, muscles, nerves, and bone were all clearly visible. They shouldn't be visible, let alone clearly.

Rem had been paying attention to the Archbishop greetings, and tried to cement their names in her head for later reference. The thing that surprised her most was Meiss, though. The boy from beyond the waterfall boldly announced he commanded a Cardinal Sin.

Melancholy and Vainglory are thought to be children's tales, and no more. There had never been any Archbishops or known Witches to either of them, so people had reason to believe they didn't exist. Seems the myths were laced with truth.

Rem wondered how she never noticed the Witch's scent on him. Then again she had never been alone and awake with him before, Subaru's scent must have overpowered his.

Rem was pulled out of her thoughts when Crusch shifted and groaned loudly, calling out to Ferris.

Meiss let out a breath he had been holding, he quietly established a Quiescence bubble around Rem and Crusch. His hand twitched, completing the action. This small, seemingly involuntary movement was what set everything off.

Ley sprang like a cat with a throat in sight. Regulus backed off and aimed to kick the dirt. Meiss activated Dolorem and caught Ley in the air, palm to fist. He felt the familiar cold of metal as he remembered too late that there were knives strapped to Ley's forearms. The metal tore through his palm and easily came out the other side.

Meiss resisted the urge to pull away and grasped Ley's hand, surprising the Archbishop. He raised him over his head and slammed him into the ground, earning a few satisfied cracks. He did this once more, driving the wind from Ley's lungs before tossing him a good ten meters.

Meiss felt his shoulder sting and begin to ooze blood as dirt whizzed past his head. Idiot, keep check of both opponents so you don't get caught from behind. He turned to face Regulus as he adjusted his aim from a grazing shot to dead-center. Meiss activated his protective authority, catching a palm-sized rock from this volley of dirt that bounced harmlessly off of him.

"Tch, why can't you hurry up and die so my neck stops itching."

Meiss heard dirt crunch to his side, Ley was trying another leaping attack. Meiss spun around and threw the rock, nailing Ley in the forehead. He spun in midair, clutching his head as bright life burst forth. Meiss pushed off the ground, sinking his elbow into Ley's abdomen before he could hit the ground. "WRYYYYAH!" The small Archbishop went flying.

Meiss shook his hand, spraying blood. That impact had jarred it and now it throbbed painfully. He raised his eyes in response to a whoosh of air, he barely activated his Authority before Regulus decked him across the face. It didn't hurt of course, but the impact still sent Meiss to the ground.

"Ha! To think that you were so high-and-mighty before. All you've got is super strength and a bit of protection; so lackluster of an Authority."

Ok, this guy is starting to piss me off.

While Regulus gloated, Meiss grabbed the bloody stone and chucked it at him. Return to sender. It conked off of Regulus's jaw in a puff of white and black smoke as he stumbled back, clearly surprised. He felt his jaw for a moment, as if pain was foreign to him. He was even more shocked when he examined his fingers to find blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth.

Meiss slowly got up. Regulus's power was controlling wind, right? He used it to slice off Crusch's arm and propel that dirt at blinding speeds. Why was he so perplexed with a little pain and blood?

"Impossible. To counter my frozen attacks is one thing, but to bypass my Authority completely..."

Regulus slowly looked at Meiss, confusion and anger dotting his face.

"You... How have you done this."

"Frightened by a little blood? Weak. I can name a few things that should scare you more. Ever heard of Chlorine?"

"My Authority, my ability to Stop an Object's Time should have only one weak point. You have hurt me without exploiting that weak point."

Then it dawned on Meiss that his ability wasn't wind control, but rather this Stopping of Time. The wind, the dirt, his body, their time was Stopped, thus they became unstoppable forces or immovable objects.

"You can't Stop time though, right?"

Regulus snorted, as if the answer was obvious.

"You think I haven't tried? No, the things I can Stop are restricted to physical objects."

He didn't even blink as Rem's Morningstar phased through his skull, in fact, he ignored it and turned his head to the rock on the ground.

Rem came up behind Meiss, she turned the head of her Morningstar over, examining the Regulus-shaped hole in it. The man himself picked up the rock that had hurt him. Immediately, that white and black smoke poured from him again. Turning it over in his hands and bouncing it experimentally.

"Meiss, the Archbishop of Gluttony fled."

"No, I still feel him lurking around somewhere, keep your guard up and don't get touched."

Regulus brought the rock closer to his face, squinting. He pressed a thumb against it, seemingly trying to cut it with his Authority. When he couldn't, he had an 'Aha' moment.

"No, you didn't bypass my Authority. I feel it, this rock is the culprit!"

Regulus grinned, cocking his hand back.

"Return to sender. HA!"

Meiss tried to catch the rock, his hand was a little off and it bounced painfully against his fingers. He dropped it, holding his hand. So it was true. He looked closely at the rock on the ground, widening his eyes when he recognized what the shiny red and black rock was.

"Rheniite, and a good-sized lump of it too."

Heh, the irony of this discovery.

Meiss' father was a big chemistry nut, and his father's father even more so, and to an extent so was Meiss. His Grandfather even went out of his way to have his name changed to honor his favorite element. Rhen. Rhenium. To be fair, his Grandpa was also a huge plane nut. That never rubbed off on Meiss, thankfully.

Meiss chuckled as Rem healed his hand. Was this property unique to Rhenium or Sulphur? Or was it some obscure impurity? He didn't know, but Regulus had made a huge mistake in trying to hurt him with this rock.

Meiss picked the rheniite up, rolling it in his palm. Now that he payed closer attention he could feel his Authority waning ever so slightly around it. He activated Dolorem on his arm, a small radius around the rock refused to be covered in the orange-cyan light. Much like with Regulus, smoke poured from where Meiss was in contact with the rock. Only for him it was gold and brown in color. Meiss looked up at Regulus, a smile on his face.

Meiss took a step foreword, holding the rock out in front of him. He took another, then another. Regulus started to back up, regretful fear on his face. Meiss broke out into a run, chasing Regulus while brandishing the rock like a weapon of supreme power. Regulus turned and ran, letting out an undignified scream.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Rem watched, eyes wide as the he two ran around in a style reminiscent of the children's game "tag." Her nose perked. Did the smell of the Witch get a little stronger? Weird, Meiss and the Archbishop were getting farther away. With a jolt, Rem realized it was behind her.

Meiss was laughing hysterically as he chased Regulus around with a rock. Such fun.

With a loud crack, Rem's head snapped to the side as Ley slapped her. Meiss turned his head at the loud report, only for his stomach to drop as Ley licked his palm. Rem fell to the ground, and Ley started to reach in with his other palm. By now, a bubble was surrounding Rem, since Ley was unwanted he was flung from inside the bubble.

Meiss regained his serious composure and turned back towards Regulus. He was veering off the road, running for his life. Greed showed no signs of slowing down.

Meiss launched off the ground, covering the distance between him and Gluttony quickly. Ley saw his shadow above him and dodged to the side as Meiss stomped the ground. Ley spun at Meiss, his daggers twirling in the sun. Meiss, wary of the knifes, dodged to the side and kicked him. Meiss felt metal trace a line over his skin, making him hiss in pain. The Archbishop was light, so the leg stopped his momentum. Meiss took this opportunity to sock him across the jaw, sending the blood from Ley's forehead flying. Another blow to the head and Ley was stumbling back. Meiss reached for his cloak, intending to throw him again. Ley struck out with his forearm daggers, a line of blood appeared perpendicular to the scars on Meiss' arm. Ley's other dagger plunged itself into the inside of his forearm, the tip striking the end of his humerus.

This time, Meiss succumbed to the urge to pull his arm away, but his momentum carried him forward and he stumbled into a heap on the ground. He felt a sharp kick to his side, driving the wind from his lungs. Meiss started to raise himself up, only to be met with another sharp kick to the side. Meiss sputtered, pleading with his lungs to draw in breath.

I've had enough.

Meiss felt his hair stand on end as electricity cracked around him, startling Ley. The Archbishop took a step back as his hand was burned. Meiss tensed in preparation for the voltage, before establishing a Quiescence around himself. He clenched his teeth, resisting the urge to scream as the bubble took form. It looked like one of those desk ornaments, except Meiss was the bulb spitting electricity. Ley was flung from the bubble, which dissipated after half a second.

The force of the Quiescence sent Ley flying down the road, his clothes singed. He landed, bouncing a few times and eventually coming to a stop... Beside Crusch's unconscious body.

A cloud of dust sprung up. In seconds it cleared, but a second was all it took. Ley smiled, an unnerving, gaping smile. His jaw was crooked. His eye under where the rock had hit him was shut and starting to swell. Nevertheless he was extremely creepy... and licking his right hand.

Ley snickered as he savored the taste of Crusch's memories. Delightful, delectable, a hint of sorrow and triumph. A good meal. Most importantly, it was filling. The feeling didn't stay though, once more Ley was hungry, ravenous, starving like a caged beast. For him and his sister, there were still three half-eaten meals to finish. Oh what a selection of cuisine to choose from! Ley closed his eyes as the last of the memories became settled in his stomach...

A whoosh of air, the crackle of electricity.

Ley snapped his eye open as he saw it flying.

Flying

Flying

Thump

Ley flinched as a new cut from his left jawline to his right eyebrow sprayed blood over his face. He shakily looked to the ground at his lower arm. A clean cut, burned to a crisp so that no blood leaked out. Gluttony fell to his knees, clutching his stump of an upper arm. He looked up at Melancholy, the sun was behind his menacing figure as he slowly approached. The backdrop of light shrouded his features in shadow, but his eyes, they shone as bright and brilliant as ever.

Rem broke out into a cold sweat as she lay on the ground. Her strength was slowly returning after that slap. In an instant, she felt like she had run from the mansion to Sanctuary without stopping or rest. That wasn't what bothered her, what bothered her was Meiss. He had a cold look in his eyes, as if the warm, inviting sky blue had turned to unforgiving shards of ice. He barely payed attention to the wound on his leg, or the blood spurting from his arm.

Meiss towered over Ley. He narrowed his eyes, relishing in the fact that Gluttony flinched at his every movement.

Revenge.

—

Subaru blinked a few times, making sure his eyesight was clear. He had been up for over twenty hours. Leveling his gaze at Petelgeuse, Subaru flicked his yellow gaze around, taking in every Miezaru Te that he saw. Julius waited above on a cliff, instructed to blast Petelgeuse with his strongest attack once the signal was given.

Subaru and Petelgeuse rotated in a circle, like lions during a duel. When the insane man had his back to Julius, Subaru snapped his fingers. Instantly, a hoarse shout echoed off the cliff face. Clair-ita or something like that, he couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Sloth snapped around, shielding himself with a barrier of earth that stood no match against Julius.

Subaru shuddered, he felt something black and slimy work it's way inside him.

"Julius! Undo Nect!"

The weird sensation of a shared body and senses left Subaru. He knew this wormy feeling was Petelgeuse making him a finger, but Subaru had a plan.

"Kusukusu, you wanna see your Witch so bad? Well I've got you a front row ticket!"

A dark mist started to pour into the clearing before Subaru even uttered the cursed words. He felt his body slow, the feeling of panic from being frozen in time was lesser. Subaru hated to say it, but he was getting used to being in stopped time.

"ORE WA SHI NI MOD-!"

Wow, a new record. He got past the "Mo" in modori this time. Anyhow, now it was up to the unpredictable Witch to decide what to do with Petelgeuse. Hopefully she was on his side...

—

Meiss was having his first taste of revenge.

It wasn't filling, but it was oh so sweet. Meiss liked to have his sweets. Electricity crackled around Meiss. His hair started to raise. His skin burned once more with trees of lightning. He inhaled the intoxicating smell of electricity.

Ley had no time to react as he was pierced through by over seven of Meiss' Acedia tendrils. He was still alive though, good. There were a few parting words Meiss had left to say. Standing amidst a blinding show of light, he delivered his verdict.

"You felt no remorse for killing her, so it feels right to not have any remorse for offing you."

All Ley did was gurgle up blood in response. Meiss' hand twitched, before he pulled it back. Almost two weeks of anger was dispersed in this moment. The tendrils retreated, leaving Ley on the ground like a discarded piece of Swiss cheese.

Meiss realized he was clenching his fist around the rock, and loosened his grip. His bloody arm thanked him. He looked at said arm; that dagger had nicked a vein. Meiss clenched his teeth again as the adrenaline started to work it's way out of his body and pain returned in all its glory.

He stood for a few seconds, his Wrath leaving with the adrenaline. Meiss slowly started to shake as what had just happened was processed. Oh god, he did it again. Killing the Hakugei with Acedia was one thing, it was a relentless force of nature, he never saw the faces of the few Witch Cult members he had killed with Acedia. But ...

Meiss fell to his knees, shaking violently. He pressed his hand to his temples as he tried to force his memories back down. Her. Memories. Death. Name. Wrath. Guilt. Flames. Power. Melancholy. He struggled with his whirlwind of a brain as his pent up emotions fizzled out of existence, quenching the hot steel that he was. He heard footsteps behind him, he got his shaking under control and finally shoved his memories back in their places.

Rem approached Meiss warily, reaching out a hand. Meiss took it in both of his. He turned to face her, the soft sky blue returning to his eyes.

"Oh god, do you know your name?"

Rem, confused, nodded before saying it aloud.

Meiss knitted his brows in worry, he glanced at Crusch, before going back to Rem.

"Who is that over there?"

"That is Crusch-sama of the Karsten faction. A candidate to the throne of Lugnica."

Meiss cursed under his breath.

"Ok, ok... Oh damn it! I should have been faster with the bubbles!"

Meiss threw his hands up into the air, spraying blood, before slamming them down onto his face and roughly rubbing it. He breathed in deep, inhaling the iron he had just spread all over his face. No reason to freak out Meiss... No reason at all.

No, there was every reason to freak out.

Meiss leveled his eyes with Rem's. How should he do this...

He sighed. Just be blunt and direct, you can deal with the aftermath...

Probably.

"Rem."

He squeezed his eyes shut tight, hoping, praying that by some miracle the words he was about to say weren't true.

—

Subaru flinched, and woke with a start. He started to sit up, but a hand forced him back down. He opened his eyes to see who pushed him back onto the pillow.

"Emilia?"

The half-elf gave a sheepish grin as the carriage bounced on the road. Subaru noticed that she was right above him, which means...

"Gah, another lap pillow!?"

Emilia pushed his head to face outwards.

"Jeez, you dummy. That explosion really hurt you, and the carriage floor is hard and uncomfortable... Don't make me worry like that again."

Subaru's memories kicked back in. The Witch had rejected Petelgeuse, and when he was having a meltdown over it Subaru threw a rock at the bag of explosive stones Julius had hidden near the cliff. Julius and his spirits shielded him, but the explosion was so great that it launched them into the sky. Subaru was separated from Julius and flung through the trees, he had broken several bones and been rendered unconscious. But he survived thanks to Ferris. Sloth wasn't so lucky. The only thing that had survived was one tainted hand, painted black by soot...

"You're lucky Felix is such a good healer. Otherwise you would be in a much worse state."

Speaking of, the monster himself was sitting in the opposite corner of the carriage. He had the smuggest look on his face. He wiggled his eyebrows at Subaru as if to say "Go on, pretend I'm not here."

Subaru narrowed his eyes at the cat. Ferris bounced his brows twice, tauntingly.

"Still, after everything that happened in the capital, after all that, why would you go so far for me?"

He didn't even think. He never thought much on what he was going to say before he said it, which caused more trouble that he would like to admit. The answer flowed out of his mouth without hindrance, without any restraint at all.

"I love you."

Ferris burst out laughing, a torrent of "Nya ha ha nya!" that ground like sandpaper against Subaru's ears.

"Wow Subaru-kyun! Saying you love two different people in the same day! Maybe you're-"

Ferris abruptly stopped, confusion on his face. Subaru didn't notice, since his own face was covered in blush and he was shutting all noise out. He wrapped his arms around himself and rolled off of Emilia's lap.

"This is going to be a very interesting conversation between me, you, and Rem."

Subaru's uncoiled, a goofy grin on his face. That melted when met with Emilia's confused expression.

"Subaru?"

"Yeah?"

"Who is Rem?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again, SKA here with some info:
> 
> This chapter marks the end of Re:Pen Arc1 (which I refer to as arc 3 to line up with cannon) Anyways, I have fourteen chapters for arc4/season2 ready, but I’ll post those at a later time.


	9. Dessert was Horrible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arc3/4 Interlude One

Meiss held his forearm gingerly as he sat, watching over the road. He pressed half of his mantle to the gash in his inner forearm, wincing at the pressure. Rem had puddled her remaining mana to heal the vein, but could do no more. So Meiss was forced to go about the bleeding oldschool. The other half of his mantle was tied around his leg. Overall he was experiencing a dull pain from the electricity burns.

He tried not to, but every so often his eyes strayed to the mangled body of Ley. Rem had summoned her Oni horn and, together with the still-dripping Meiss, healed Ley enough for him to gain consciousness. The two had intended to imprison him and interrogate him for information on the Cult, but he immediately attacked them. Gluttony was so weak that he tripped over his feet and fell back to the ground. There was nothing they could do to resuscitate him.

Ley Batenkaitos, Archbishop of Gluttony, had been utterly defeated and was without doubt, dead.

Meiss tore his eyes away. He grimaced, the Archbishop was insane, psychotic, and a ruthless murderer. Why did killing Ley make Meiss feel so bad? More so, these thoughts meant that his last words to the Archbishop were false. He didn't want them to be, Ley deserved every bit of what he got

Meiss forced those thoughts from his mind. He wasn't going to get all sympathetic for an Archbishop. He looked to his other side, at Rem and Crusch. Rem was sitting with her knees pulled up to her face, Crusch laying next to her. Meiss had decided to give her space, and keep a watchful, but not prying, eye on her. He had only known her for two days, he didn't know if she would do anything rash because of this news. He also didn't know if she would like space or a hug.

The woman was still exhausted, but she never slept or nodded off. Meiss scrunched his brows in worry, shifting his leg to be more comfortable. He once again winced as the drying blood on his wound cracked, letting fresh blood through. It was probably a bad thing to be bleeding so much in such a short span of time.

He must have made a noise, because Rem pulled her head up to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, just barely visible in the shadows of her bangs. Meiss felt his throat close up. Was there anything he could say? He was blunt, and found it hard to comfort people. He could see when someone was hurting, yet lacked the knowledge to make them stop hurting.

Meiss pulled the lump of rheniite from his pocket. He still had yet to deduce whether Rhenium or Sulfur was the culprit for the anti-Authority property. Perhaps the material itself was anti-Authority and not its parts. Honestly, it was weird. Rheniite was an extremely rare volcanic material, so what was it doing in the middle of a plains? It was as if the red-black rock was conveniently placed there for him to discover.

On the carriage ride to the Hakugei confrontation, Meiss had learned from the dead-end conversations that Rem and Subaru were servants to someone named Roswaal L. Mathers. This "Roswaal" character was something akin to a nobleman. Rem had said that he was a master of magic. Maybe he could help, assuming this world knew of at least some of the elements. If not then it may be a bit bumpier a road.

Meiss looked back over to Rem, returning the rock to his pocket for later study. She looked so small and frail. It honestly made him choke up at the thought of Subaru not remembering her. What a cruel twist of fate's thread. Meiss looked to the sky, silently cursing the loom for what it had done. Regardless of his ineptitude, he should at least try.

Picking himself up awkwardly. He limped over to Rem and sat down almost a meter away. He let go of the makeshift bandage on his forearm and hesitated with his hand in the air. What should he do? Should he pat her shoulder or something, or just talk? Meiss knitted his brows, hesitating a moment too long.

Rem picked her head up ever so slightly. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. Meiss reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder. He waited for her to push or pull away, or to tense up. She did nothing.

"I'm here for ya. If you want like a hug or something, or for me to leave you alone, then I'm happy to comply."

Rem sniffled. She made a cracking noise with her voice, like how one would sound if they were debating on talking or haven't talked in a while. She buried her head deeper in her knees before speaking in a low, shaky voice.

"This is..."

"This is fine."

Meiss felt tears of his own starting to well up as Rem continued to cry silently.

—

Subaru anxiously bobbed his leg as he looked out over the road. They had passed the Flugal Tree a few minutes before, oh how he hoped they were ok.

Subaru had checked with both Emilia and Ferris on whether or not they remembered either Rem or Meiss. Emilia didn't remember Rem, and she hadn't met Meiss. Ferris remembered Meiss, but didn't remember Rem, just like Emilia. Ferris seemed to have a headache when he thought about after the Hakugei battle, saying that it made no sense for Meiss and Subaru to hug and loudly declare their love for each other. Not to mention the fact that Meiss was too injured at the time to do such a thing anyways.

The two watched him worriedly as he urged Otto to go faster.

Slowly, evidence of a battle appeared on the horizon. Pieces of carriage and soldiers that lay dead or forever unconscious. Subaru had flashbacks of his first encounter with Petelgeuse and Meiss, and how the mansion was a bloodbath. Now that he thought about it, where had the all-powerful wizard Roswaal been this entire time? That bastard never seemed to be there when it counted. Ever.

Subaru gritted his teeth as the carriage came to a halt next to the head of the Hakugei, the destruction not letting them advance. He jumped off the carriage, Emilia and Ferris following suit. Otto remained with the carriage, a horror-struck face plastered on him.

Ferris immediately went to check the bodies. He exclaimed loudly when some of them were comatose and not dead. Subaru scanned the area, inching foreword. Emilia looked at the devastation with wide eyes, a hand to her mouth.

Eventually, Ferris joined them and powered on ahead. There were too many comatose to tend to and everyone that wasn't in a coma was dead. The three left the carriage behind and pressed foreword. Subaru and Ferris barely looked to their sides, Emilia lagged a small bit behind as she took everything in.

Subaru slowed when he saw a small boy in the road. His long hair was dirty and tangled, and he was covered in rags. When he came up closer, he was horrified to see the dead body covered in holes. Ferris came up behind him, widening his eyes when Subaru turned the body over with a broken piece of carriage.

"Nyo way... Is that..."

"Gluttony."

Subaru and Ferris snapped their head up and to the side. Appearing from behind a propped up piece of canvas was a wounded and shirtless Meiss. His blue eyes had lost some luster. His hair was no longer covering his face, instead slicked over the top of his head. One of his legs and his left forearm ware wrapped in the bloody remains of his mantle. Intricate patterns of lightning trees crisis-crossed his body.

"What happened?"

Meiss started to limp foreword, past Ferris and to the body of Gluttony. He looked at it with distaste.

"The archbishop of Greed, Regulus Corneas, and this guy-"

Meiss grunted, before nudging the body of Gluttony with his foot.

"-the Archbishop of Gluttony, Ley Batenkaitos, attacked the line of carriages. The front end was spared, probably went back to the capital. Also, as you can see, Gluttony is dead. Courtesy of your resident Melancholy."

Something had happened to Meiss, Subaru realized. He no longer had any restraints about announcing his Authority. He wondered how much trouble that would get them into. Meiss gestured to an area perpendicular to the road.

"Regulus fled in that direction when I threatened him with a rock. Overall they are extremely dangerous, or were, in the case of Ley."

Subaru looked in shock. Two more Archbishops on top of Petelgeuse. Evidently Ferris was thinking the same thing.

"There were two more Archbishops of Sin?"

Meiss looked over, surprised.

"There was a third?"

"Yeah, the Archbishop of Sloth was lurking around in the woods near the Mathers domain. Subaru came up with an excellent plan to get rid of him and ensure the safety of the townsfolk in Arlam Village."

Emilia was the one to speak this time. She stepped up and exchanged greetings with Meiss.

"My name is Emilia, candidate for the royal election. Although I wish it were under better circumstances, nice to meet you. You seem acquainted with Subaru and Felix, I see."

Meiss unknitted his brows, and tried to smile at Emilia.

"My name is Meiss Rhen, I've heard a lot about you from Subaru and... Another friend of his."

Subaru widened his eyes, "another friend?" Did he somehow mean Rem? He was just about to speak up when Ferris moved closer to heal Meiss. He held up his uninjured arm to stop him, instead pointing to the propped up piece of canvas.

"Check both of them first."

The group moved towards the canvas. Meiss stopped Subaru as he approached. Holding him out by the shoulder.

"Subaru, there is something I have to tell you..."

"Where's Rem?"

Meiss drew in a breath, his eyes widening. He heard Ferris yell, no doubt he discovered Crusch missing an arm.

"You... remember her?"

"You remember her?"

Meiss brought his hand to his chin, pondering.

"Then that means... Nothing would have happened to me if I went with you. You sent me back with Rem because you knew something would happen with her."

Subaru nodded solemnly.

"That doesn't explain- no no, none of that matters right now."

Meiss took him by the shoulders and pushed him towards the canvas. He used a little more force than was necessary.

"Go! Go see her. She's a mess, worrying about how neither you nor her sister will remember you."

Subaru hurriedly peeked behind the curtain, startling himself with the image of Ferris reattaching Crusch's arm. Huddled against the canvas, Rem was watching silently. When she saw Subaru, she burst out into tears and turned away.

"Rem!"

Rem's shoulders stiffened. She slowly turned around to see Subaru with his worried look fixed on her.

"Subaru-kun!"

The small woman practically flew into Subaru's arms, leaking tears as she went. Emilia jumped when Subaru fell down next to her with Rem in his arms. Was it just Meiss or did she look kind of envious? The emotion lasted less than an instant as she watched the two embrace.

While Rem was busy trying to drown Subaru in her tears, Meiss approached Ferris and Crusch. Ferris was so absorbed in his work he didn't notice Meiss until he called the cat's name. Ferris immediately turned and slapped Meiss away, tears in his eyes.

"How could you let this happen to Crusch-sama!"

The healer weakly pummeled his fists against Meiss. His ribs were still sore from Gluttony, so it hurt more than it should have. Meiss let Ferris pummel him until he was satisfied. Ferris brought both his fists to Meiss' chest, hard, before he sunk to his knees. Meiss drew in a shaky breath.

"Ferris, I'm sorry. I'm so~ sorry. I wasn't smart enough to save her. I wasn't fast enough to save her."

Meiss dropped to his knees, he placed both his hands on cat boy's shoulders.

"I was too mad to realize my mistakes, and because of that Gluttony took her memories. You have every right to blame me, or hate me. I won't stop you."

Ferris was still crying, he sniffled before raising his eyes at Meiss. Tears streaked across his red face. He wiped them away with his Knights uniform.

"Show me where you need healed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue and feels weren’t my jam at this time, and still aren’t.


	10. Next Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arc 3/4 Interlude Two

Kuso... you've really backed yourself into a corner haven't you, Subaru?

Subaru sat alone with his thoughts. Quite a dangerous place to be.

This latest set of loops had impossible problems that could only be half-solved. He was stuck any route he chose. If he dared to Shi ni Modori, he risked permanently undoing his battle with the Cult. They needed him to defeat Petelgeuse, he was the crucial piece of the chess game. They would certainly fail if he left with Rem, Emilia would most likely die, leaving Puck to kill countless others. Not to mention that he couldn't take on two Archbishops. No, this may have been the best outcome for everyone with the information he had at the time.

He simply couldn't risk it. What if the respawn point had been updated in the two days he had stayed in the Karsten estate?

Subaru opened his eyes to darkness. The room he was currently sitting in was not lit. It was the room he stayed in during his stay here at the Karsten estate.

Suddenly, light poured in from the door. Subaru flinched, his eyes protesting at the sudden brightening of his surroundings. In the open door was a shadow. Two people standing side to side. Subaru's eyes adjusted, making out the features of Meiss and Crusch. Meiss was dressed in loaner clothes supplied by Ferris' business attire. Crusch wore a simple navy dress.

"See, I knew he would be in here! It's like I had this feeling..."

Meiss nodded to Crusch, he seemed occupied with scrutinizing the room. Finally he shuddered, rubbing his neck and turning to be perpendicular to the doorframe. Crusch did the same, and the two were standing face to face for a second before Meiss sighed and backed away, holding the door open.

"Subaru, we're having a talk in the lounge about recent events. Everyone wants you there."

Subaru got up from the bed, and moved to walk out the door. When he passed between them, he realized how much shorter the blonde Archbishop was compared to Crusch. At least five inches. Subaru started down the hallway, looking behind him once to see Meiss and Crusch following. Crusch was looking down at Meiss, talking, while Meiss looked ahead at the floor. He replied every now and then, but guilt from not being able to prevent Crusch's memories from being stolen must be eating him up inside.

They passed another hallway that connected to theirs. Suddenly, Crusch burst out laughing. Subaru turned to see her holding Meiss' shoulder as she tried to restrain her laughter. Subaru narrowed his eyes, it was weird to see Crusch act so differently. Meiss must have made a joke, he had a small smile on his face.

Ferris appeared from the hall they had just passed. Relieved of his knight attire, he immediately attached himself to Crusch and pulled her away from Meiss. Crusch looked troubled for a second, before conceding to the Cat-boy. He joyfully swung his and Crusch's arms between them, seemingly not bothered by her lack of memories.

"You know, it's kind of weird to see you as cheerful as ever, Monster."

Ferris stuck out his tongue at Meiss. Crusch looked at Meiss, widening the space between her and Ferris.

"Monster? Why would you call Felix-chan a monster?"

Meiss waved his hand dismissively. Crusch still had her eyes on him, receiving a pout from Ferris in her blind spot.

"It's a joke, he ruined a very nice moment for two people."

Crusch moved in slightly closer to Ferris with an "Oh."

"You know, we've known each other for quite some time, so to refer to me as Felix-chyan is a little dystancing."

"I'm sorry Felix-ch... Felix. It will be hard, but I'll try to get things back to the way they were before."

—

The four entered the lounge, and were greeted by Emilia and Wilhelm. None of the Anastasia faction were present. This discussion did not concern them at all.

"So, I take it that we're going to discuss the effects of Gluttony's Authority?"

Surprisingly, Meiss was the one to initiate conversation. Ferris closed his mouth, as he was about to speak first, then opened it to respond.

"Yes, as you may have nyoticed, none of the Anastasia faction will be participating."

Ferris glanced at Crusch, grimacing as she was too close to Meiss in his opinion.

"That's a given, exposing weakness so soon after being announced would be horrible for your cause."

Once more surprising everybody, this was Meiss who delivered the uncut truth.

"Yes, and although that is a prevalent statement, we have the matter of what occurred on the Laifus highway to discuss. So do not mind me if I steer us back into that topic, Meiss-dono."

"I don't want to go through the honorific talk again, so I'll leave it. Regardless, what is there to talk about? The Archbishops of Greed and Gluttony attacked the trail of carriages, and we suffered heavy casualties including Rem's name and Crusch's memories."

Meiss thoughtfully twirled the single lock of hair that refused to be slicked back. Speaking of Rem, how did Subaru remember her? Meiss remembering could be chalked up to his passive sub-Authority, but Subaru had no explanation.

"Maybe we remember her because we're both from a diff-"

"Meiss!"

This was Subaru, who hastily stopped Meiss before he could reveal something so crucial. He didn't want the knowledge of their alien status to flow farther than the Mathers Domain.

"Ah, sorry Subaru. Since the events of the Laifus ambush I've realized that I've had less reservations about myself. I'll try not to slip anything pertaining to the both of us."

While this exchange resulted in confused looks and wordless glances, it seems that the fleeting topic was shut down.

"We still haven't gotten a detyailed report from you yet of what exactly happened, Meiss-san."

Meiss sighed, though it sounded suspiciously unlike a sigh and more like "ree." Wilhelm looked expectantly at the boy, being curious as to how he managed to fight two Archbishops of Sin simultaneously.

"Regulus was standing in the road, using his ability called Stop an Objects Time to destroy any carriages that dared harm him. I was able to push Crusch through the carriages siding to save her and jumped away with Rem. Ley revealed himself moments after, prompting Regulus to attack with his Authority. It was this attack that severed Crusch's arm."

Crusch shivered, clutching her arms. Meiss glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, suddenly feeling sorry.

"Rem went to heal Crusch, resulting in me acting as a barrier between them and the Archbishops. They both attacked, which led to me catching this rock."

Meiss pulled the lump of red-black volcanic rock from his pocket. He hadn't let the substance out of his sight since the events of the Laifus ambush.

"A few more blows were exchanged, resulting in me discovering that this rock nullifies Authorities. I used it to chase away Regulus, but let my guard down, allowing Ley to claim Rem's name with his Authority. More blows were exchanged, resulting in Ley being forcefully launched towards Crusch's unconscious body, allowing him to steal her memories. As he was relishing in his small victory, I took the opportunity to remotely sever his arm. After that the rest is easy to piece together. You all saw Gluttony's body."

Everyone looked down when Meiss finished with his summary. Their faces were grave when the outcome seemed to be the best possible one that could have been achieved. Wilhelm was the first to break the silence.

"While the losses are numerous, and I mean no ill-will, I will rest a little better knowing that out of the six Archbishops, only three remain now."

"While it is nice to think like that, the number of Archbishops is wrong. Out of the seven sins, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Envy, Wrath, and Lust. There is also Melancholy and Vanity, or Vainglory if you prefer. While I don't know which Sin is missing from the Archbishop count, or who the third missing Archbishop is, I would like for everyone to know about the other two."

Ferris narrowed his eyes, Melancholy and Vainglory? These sins are mere children's tales, subsets of Sloth and Pride used in stories to give the heroes more villains to defeat.

"Why do you sound so sure that children's tales are real, do you actually have a problem with your head?"

Meiss shot an icy glare at Ferris, who didn't shrink back. While the two had momentarily strengthened their bonds, it seemed that they were quickly being torn apart. Meiss had no explanation, perhaps Ferris was frustrated with Crusch and taking it out on him? Meiss noticed Crusch furrow her brows at Ferris.

"I have no desire to hear your angry voice, cat, but I can assure you that Melancholy and Vanity are very real; and if anyone was wondering about the authenticity of the rock's anti-Authority behavior I can relieve your doubts."

Meiss once again drew the rheniite from his pocket. He dropped the rock on a table in the center of the room and held his hand out to it. Ferris, Crusch, Wilhelm, and Emilia all widened their eyes as a stream of orange-cyan light burst from his palm and shot towards the rock. Just as it was about to hit it, the beam stopped short, evaporating into gold and brown mist that drifted to the ground.

"N-nyo way..."

"Meiss-dono..."

Emilia looked around at everyone's shocked expressions, wondering why they were so disbelieving.

"T-that must be some form of fire magic right? To smoke like that... I've also seen those colors in flame before! Why does everyone look so~ suprised? Meiss must be super skilled, I think."

To her surprise, she was ignored by everyone. Except for Subaru, who leaned back.

Meiss stopped the use of Acedia, and picked the rheniite up. He calmly held it to his side as he turned back to the group.

"By those expressions, I'm sure you understood what I was demonstrating. I am an Archbishop of Sin, though to believe I associate with the Witch Cult is a grave mistake. As to how I know that Melancholy and Vanity exist? Simple."

He twirled his overhanging lock of hair.

"I am Melancholy."

Meiss watched as Ferris pulled Crusch away from him, earning a startled cry. Wilhelm stood up from the couch he was sitting on, turning to face him. Crusch turned to Ferris.

"What's wrong? Why are you acting as if Meiss is dangerous?"

"I _am_ dangerous."

Crusch turned to face him, shock in her eyes.

"If it's any consolation, you would already be dead if I attacked. You remember what I did to the clone of the Hakugei, right Felix? I also have a personal vendetta against the Witch Cult. Although with the death of Gluttony I guess that's less."

Seeing as nobody was backing down, Meiss felt a pang of grief shoot through him. He really did like everyone here.

"Guys, relax, it's as he said, if he wanted or needed us dead we already would be. Are you seriously saying the guy that risked his life against two Archbishops of Sin and a giant whale is untrustworthy?"

Subaru spoke up, getting everyone to turn to him. While he had the experience of past loops to say for certain that Meiss was trustworthy, he could only hope that everyone else saw him as such.

Subaru breathed a sigh of relief as Wilhelm backed down. Ferris showed no signs of following though, continuing to glare and growl at the boy. Crusch looked worried, looking between Meiss and Ferris. Eventually, she wrestled herself out of Ferris' grasp and took a step away.

"Ferris!"

"Y-yes Crusch-sama?"

"I do not know what these 'Authorities' or 'Archbishops' are, but you would do well to respect someone who has bled for you or your peers."

Subaru widened his eyes, it seems that Crusch still subconsciously had this authoritative side to her. Meiss widened his eyes ever so slightly as he stared as Crusch's back. She turned to face him, a light blush dusting her cheeks. When he saw this, Meiss quickly looked away.

Ferris ground his teeth and flattened his ears as he watched this exchange. He had known Crusch for years, so why was he losing to someone she had just met?

"Ahem, I would like to return the conversation to what we were previously discussing."

Ferris unflattened one of his ears and brought the conversation back to what to do about the Gluttony victims, as per Wilhelm's request.

"Syo, about Crusch-sama and 'Rem', we can all agree to keep this a secret, nya?"

After the small chorus of yeah, sure, and ok, Ferris appeared satisfied. However, there was still an elephant in the room...

"What about undoing the effects? Any way to do that?"

Subaru gladly charged in upon it.

Ferris dropped his bubbly demeanor for a second as he replied no, he had not figured out how to undo the effects of Gluttony's Authority.

"There probably is no way to undo the effects of Gluttony's Authority without the Sage..."

"Sage?"

"The Sage, she rests atop the Pleidias Watchtower, safeguarding it from anyone who would dare enter. Especially the Witch Cult, for the Witch of Envy herself is imprisoned there."

Wilhelm replied, and took a deep breath to begin talking agin.

"Unfortunately, even though my research on the Witch Cult is extensive, I have only scratched the surface on information I believe."

Every head turned to face Meiss.

Meiss looked up when he felt every gaze hot upon him. He furrowed his brows and wryy'd softly as he began to speak.

"Every member has a vial of suicide poison on their person to escape captivity. The Archbishops themselves deliver Gospels. Each Authority is passed on when an Archbishop dies. I don't know which one, but one of the remaining ones has extreme healing capabilities. They are always moving; and the Hakugei was the pet of Gluttony."

Ferris, Wilhelm, and Subaru darkened their gaze. Emilia and Crusch only frowned, not understanding much of what was spoken.

"Puck."

Subaru turned to Emilia.

"What about him? I could call him for you if you want to talk."

"No, er, maybe, but I was wondering about Puck. If we ever get a pinpoint on the Cult again, we could probably just sick Puck on them. I remember when he had to let off his mana, and we all nearly froze to death. No doubt he could probably do that again, but much colder."

Emilia seemed to consider it, and tilted her head to the side. She frowned, closing her eyes.

"He-he's not responding to my calls?"

"E-Emilia-tan, isn't that a bad thing?

"Maybe he's just tired. I don't want to bother him, he might get grumpy if I wake him up."

Ferris, who had closed his eyes and was deep in thought, slowly opened them. He brought his hands together in front of him and proclaimed loudly:

"Well~ seeing as it accomplished what it set out to do, we can disband the alliance nyow, right?"

Subaru looked up, dumbfounded.

"Felix."

"You see, the original purpose has been fulfilled, as well as a bit extra. So..."

"Felix."

"Not to mention that with Emilia-san's place as a candidate going public, she will nyo doubt become an even bigger target."

"FERRIS!"

The cat-boy went rigid as Wilhelm shouted his name.

"Will-jii? W-we're done with the Hakugei, and Crusch has suffered irreparable harm..."

"Ferris, we will not disband this alliance. They are suffering just the same as us, not to mention that threatening them here may give them incentive to use this information against us."

Ferris fell silent. It wasn't every day that Wilhelm raised his voice. Subaru looked at his palms, remembering the light-as-feather feeling of Rem's body as he froze to death.

"It could have been worse."

Ferris looked up at Subaru. He had tears welling up, but they dried instantly as he yelled.

"WHAT?!"

"I'm saying it could have been worse, imagine if Crusch or Rem had died or lost the other half of themselves. They would be completely empty! No idea who they are, and nobody an idea of who they used to be!"

"They would be comatose."

"COMATOSE?!"

Meiss pushed off the wall, and took a wide stance.

"If both the name and memories are eaten, the victim would be put into a state of suspended animation. No need to eat, drink, exercise, or excrete waste. They are merely empty, a shell that is unmoving and... defenseless."

Meiss turned towards the hallway he had entered from. Just talking about it was pushing the limits of his composure. It was a superhuman feat that he had lasted this long.

He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. Meiss clenched them into fists, almost hard enough to draw blood from his palm.

"I need a breather..."

He abruptly stopped, and turned to face the room.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep the whole 'I am Melancholy' thing a secret. After I get done analyzing the lump of rheniite, I'll tell you exactly what substance it is that nullifies Authorities so you can update your armory. Just keep hush hush please."

With that, Meiss left the room.

—

A few hours passed, as everyone resumed duties or healed gates. The members of the Roswaal Mansion had been granted one more nights stay.

Subaru was laying in the grass with Emilia. The two hadn't really had a chance to talk since they had found the ruined carriages on the Laifus highway. Now though, they had been talking for quite a bit. Mostly about the events of the past few days, although...

"Hey, I know that Rem is pretty, but pay some attention to me too."

Subaru opened his eyes wide as he looked at Emilia with surprise.

"You visit her all the time, could you spare some of that for me and Puck? Not to mention that you haven't seen Ram or Beatrice in a week. Geez, you really need to make up for lost time, Subaru."

Subaru continued to look at Emilia, who fiddled with her fingers as she watched the clouds. The half-elf turned to look at Subaru with a pout. All he could do, the only thing that our maybe-protagonist could possibly do in this situation was jump up and loudly proclaim the truth.

"Ram and Beako would rather kill me than spend time with me! And you! You've got your nose in a book 24/7!"

"I need to learn if I'm going to be the next ruler! Subaru you dunderhead!"

"Who says dunderhead anymore?"

Subaru hopped, straightening his body before he hit the ground. Wilhelm had just walked into the clearing. Subaru hadn't yet thanked him for keeping the alliance going. He turned to Emilia as he began walking towards him.

"I'm sorry Emilia-tan, I'll spend more time with you whenever you want. I genuinely worry for Rem, and keep checking up on her to make sure she isn't lonely. I could never imagine having everyone you've ever loved or cared about look at you and say 'Who are you?'"

Subaru had carefully omitted the word "promise" from that. The word was beginning to gain some sort of negative connotation with him.

He jokingly blew a kiss to Emilia, who waved it off. Spinning around, Subaru started off towards Wilhelm, who had just entered a doorway.

The double doors had no lock or doorknob, so Subaru assumed it wasn't private quarters. He loudly barged in, flinching when he realized it was a library. He put up his hands defensively, waiting for some sort of blast.

Oh man, this is stupid.

Subaru lowered his hands. The shock of suddenly entering a library must have triggered his Beako reaction. She never took kindly to him suddenly barging in.

Walking up to Wilhelm, who was massaging his shoulder as he browsed the selection, Subaru announced his presence.

"Hey there Wilhelm!"

Wilhelm turned to face Subaru as he plucked a book from the shelves.

"Hello there Subaru-dono, what can I do for you?"

"I've got nothing, I just wanted to thank you for keeping the alliance going. You don't know how much it means."

"No."

Subaru was about to start talking more, but suddenly stopped when Wilhelm's response sunk in.

"No?"

"I did not do it for your sake, Subaru-dono. I decided to keep the alliance alive for my own selfish needs."

"Tha-that's ok Wilhelm, I'm doing the exact same thing."

With a sigh, Wilhelm replaced the book to its rightful place on the shelf. He turned back to face Subaru once more. Undoing the buttons on his shirt, he removed it to reveal a bandage over his shoulder. There was a spot of blood near where the shoulder met the chest.

A loud thump echoed from the corner of the library, followed by a stool hitting the ground. Wilhelm and Subaru turned to look at Meiss on his hands and knees, reaching for a book on the ground. He looked up, and a shudder went through his whole body, causing him to drop the book. His hand shot to the back of his neck and stayed for a moment. He finally stood up, trying to flatten a page in the book that had been creased.

Wilhelm sighed, and began to put his shirt on. Meiss walked over, placing the book on a table nearby. Subaru noticed the title on the binding.

Yang: Spells and Use

"If you got a wound in the fighting, why haven't you gotten Felix to take a look at it?"

"Because this is no simple injury, Subaru-dono. It is in fact a result of the Blessing of the Reaper; an incurable wound. While that may sound bad, the implications are even worse."

Meiss walked up to Wilhelm, who towered over him with his height, and peered at the bloodstain.

"If it's unable to be healed, then let's try to cauterize it. No sense in you bleeding out, at least."

Meiss' hand twitched, then started to shake. He grit his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist. A river of colored energy sprung from his back and flowed in front of him. Bright orange and cyan light alternated the surface of the thick wire, and it glowed with the candescence of an old lightbulb. Every few seconds, a spark would pop somewhere along the length of the tendril.

Wilhelm took in a breath at the sight of Meiss' Authority. It had a sort of deathly allure to it. He stepped away from the Acedia wire, putting his shirt the rest of the way on.

"There is no need, Mei- ... Meiss-dono. The wound will close up by itself over time. What bothers me isn't the wound though, it is as I said before, the implications behind the wound are dire. It only opens up when I am close to the one who wounded me."

Subaru scowled, "Does this mean a new enemy to fight? GOD DAMN IT!" He threw his hands up into the air, and brought thi self down into the fetal position. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO°oOO!"

Wilhelm chuckled, before extending his hand to help Subaru up.

"I hope not, for the only one who could inflict a wound with the Blessing of the Reaper was my late wife, Theresia van Astrea."

Meiss scrunched his eyes, and recalled the Acedia wire.

"So someone else has this Divine Blessing? I know of Blessings reserved for a certain species, but duplicates of someone's unique Blessing?"

"Exactly, no one could have done it but her, which begs the question: Why did it reopen then? The only answer that I can think of, no matter how absurd, is that my wife has somehow returned from the dead."

—

Subaru let out a long sigh as he and Meiss rounded a corner.

"Man, undead wives is too stressful to think about."

Meiss just nodded and kept walking.

Subaru turned to him, and lightly bopped him on the shoulder.

"We still haven't really gotten to know each other yet, despite being through so much. Eh?"

"If I recall, all we did together was fight the whale, then we split up."

"Oh, yeah."

The two continued to walk. Meiss had undergone some serious character development, Subaru wondered what exactly happened in his fight with Greed and Gluttony. Crusch rounded a corner, seeming lost and not lost at the same time. She turned, saw the two, and made her way over.

"Crusch? That's perfect Subaru."

Meiss walked ahead of Subaru and turned to face him head-on.

"Something interesting has happened, Subaru. My neck tingles around you now. You may not be aware of what that means, so I'll elucidate this situation."

Meiss took a deep breath, and crossed his arms. Crusch had made it to them, but had slowed down when she felt the tense atmosphere.

"Each Archbishop of Sin has a reaction when another Archbishop of Sin is near. It's a tingling in the back of the neck. This tingle wasn't there a few days ago, but when we reunited on the Laifus highway it suddenly was. At the time I assumed it was left over from the fight, but it still persists."

Subaru shifted his weight as Meiss suddenly appeared hostile. It was weird having both a hostile and friendly aura coming from the same person.

"Me and Rem, and I guess Crusch now, know you have foresight, future vision, prophetic sight, what have you, but the tingles weren't there before. Is this power a Divine Blessing? Or is it an Authority that somehow doesn't elicit a response in my neck?"

Subaru stammered, he didn't know. To him, every death was like the end of some lucid dream. Beyond that, he was clueless. Meiss leaned foreword, and Subaru leaned back.

"I- I don't know! Ok! I don't know, I just have it! I know nothing about it besides the obvious!"

Meiss flicked his gaze over to Crusch, who shook her head.

"Sigh, I guess you're off the hook then."

Meiss drew back.

"W- What about you, Meiss! I know next to nothing about you! What did you do for the two weeks before now? What business did you have with Petelgeuse and Ley? Hell, I'm not even sure where you're from! Also instead of sighing, you said the actual word 'sigh'!"

Meiss rubbed his eyes, such a torrent of questions... not like he was any better.

"I'm definitely English with a hint of German and some other stuff; and I lived in the U.S. As for my business with the Archbishops... To put it simply I was on a personal quest against Gluttony, Sloth was just information."

Meiss exhaled, and closed his eyes.

"Not to mention that Crusch and Rem aren't the only victims of Gluttony... God I feel like I'm spouting exposition."

Subaru widened his eyes, more victims of Gluttony? Meiss was talking about himself... He clearly had memories, so that means...

"Your name was eaten?"

"The reason I'm immune to reality altering effects in fact. When an Authority manifests, it takes your situation, mind, body, and desires into account to form a power. That's why my Authority is more combat-oriented."

"..."

"I checked up on Rem like you keep asking me to, there was some sorta floating cat with her. He didn't like me all that much."

Meiss remembered that Crusch was standing next to him, he no longer had anything to talk about so he left. Subaru watched him walk down the hall with the head of the Karsten estate.

He snorted as the serious and icy Meiss went stiff as a board when Crusch grabbed his arm and pressed herself against him. His crimson head whipped around to glare at Subaru.

"SHUT UP!"

Crusch and Subaru burst out laughing. The former proceeded to use her height advantage to pick Meiss up and bridal-carry him.

"NO! NO NO NO! NONONONONONO!”

Crusch covered Meiss' mouth.

"Ah, you're so short it's cute!"

Subaru rolled around on the ground, dying of laughter. Crusch smiled.

Under her breath, she whispered to herself. "I can't remember how they acted towards each other before, but I'm happy to have calmed that horrible mood back there."

The two rounded the corner, with Meiss seeming to have given up on escape.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahaha ha ha ... haaa."

Subaru jumped when the door next to him opened and nearly conked him on the head.

"Oh! Subaru-kun, Rem is sorry!"

Rem kneeled down to inspect his head.

"I'm fine Rem, you missed me."

"Rem did indeed miss you."

"... With the door"

"... Oh"

Subaru stood up, and Rem, who was in casual attire for the first time he had seen her, dragged him into her temporary quarters. Not much was in the room, just a simple bed, dresser, desk, and mirror. The only uncanny thing was the floating kitten who was inspecting himself in the mirror. Subaru noticed that he had a different bag than what he usually wore with Emilia. It was black with a purple symbol embroidered on it. Subaru realized it was the flag of Lugnica.

"Oh, hey Subaru. How was Lia? It really pains me to ignore her calls, but I really wanted to get to know this person I should know."

Subaru scowled at the cat, who covered his mouth. Puck had struck a nerve.

"She was startled, you should go back and reassure her."

He must have come off colder than he intended, because Rem tugged at his shirt.

"While it is disconcerting that Rem will have to reintroduce herself, please do not make things harder, Subaru-kun."

With a sigh, Subaru scrunched up his face for a split second, then sat in the desk chair. Rem gracefully sat on the bed, and Puck completed the triangle by floating next to the mirror.

...

...

...

Subaru cleared his throat, he didn't have anything to talk about that would involve Puck, so it was super awkw-

Conversation Idea.

"So Puck, Meiss told me that you two don't seem to be getting along. Why is that?"

"Surely Subaru-kun is able to at least get a rough estimate of Meiss' pathetic spirit affinity?"

"Pathetic? As the only spirit in the room, I must say that his spirit affinity is nonexistent. While I try to be better, it's in my nature to immediately dislike someone who seems so foul, and smells so foul too."

"Hmm, maybe I shouldn't introduce him to Beako then... Anyways Rem, I haven't the faintest idea of how to gauge spirit affinity. You do remember I'm from another world, right?"

Rem's breath hitched in her throat as she glanced at Puck. The spirit himself was looking at Subaru funny and twitching his ears, as if he had heard wrong.

"S-Subaru-kun?"

"Oh it's fine Rem, I can trust Puck with this secret. He seems to be able to safeguard all the important information really well!"

The spirit narrowed his eyes, and glared at Subaru.

"I can't help but feel like that was a jab at me, apologize or I'll tell Lia."

With no instants to spare Subaru was bowing in front of the grey spirit, mumbling nigh-incoherent apologies at light speed.

Rem giggled.

After a solid thirty seconds of continuous apology, Puck released Subaru.

"Ok, I'm satisfied. I'll tell Lia that you were a good boy."

"That's a _SUPER_ depressing thing to hear!"

The spirit proofed into light, leaving Rem and Subaru alone.

Rem watched the air where Puck was just seconds ago with a smile. That smile slowly faded into Rem hugging her legs. Subaru climbed onto the bed next to her and pulled her into a side hug.

"I know it'll be hard Rem, but... I'm sure we can do it."

"B-But nobody knows Rem anymore, not even Nee-sama will remember... It just hurts Rem so much."

Subaru pulled her even closer, and could feel tears soak his shoulder.

"Rem is so lonely. It's funny, isn't it? To be surrounded by people yet feel so alone. It's horrible Subaru."

Subaru took each word like a blow heavier than a lions paw, each word sliced deeper than Elsa's wicked blades.

"You aren't completely alone Rem. While it may not be as many people as before, you have me and Meiss. We still remember you Rem."

Subaru kept inserting her name into his sentences, as if to reassure Rem that he remembered.

Rem tightened her grip on her legs.

"It hurts Rem to see the look on Meiss' face. He comes by all the time because he worries so much. He may not show it, but he values friends higher than most people. Meiss hurts himself all the time by thinking he could have done better. He comes to Rem with a worried smile, converses with Rem wearing a gentle smile, and leaves Rem with a pained smile. Rem tells him every time that it is not his fault, but he doesn't believe that."

Subaru had no words for this. He was generally more outgoing and aware of how to respond to people’s feelings than Meiss, but this stumped him.

Subaru didn't notice Rem looking up at his face, not until she pushed him onto his back on the bed. It was rather forceful and unexpected, so he had no time to brace himself. Rem leaned over him, eyes still watering.

"Please Subaru-kun, don't wear that face around Rem. Rem curses that face, the face of someone who is attacking themselves."

Rem sniffled, and swung a leg over Subaru to straddle him. He held his breath, motionless, as Rem crumpled against his shoulder and started letting her tears flow freely. Subaru hugged her back, and the two stayed like this for a while. When Rem calmed down, she slightly detached herself from Subaru, but still held him in a tight embrace.

Subaru had continued to breathe a while ago, and felt Rem shift on top of him. He shifted too, thinking she was getting up, only to be surprised by a kiss on the cheek.

"A-"

All Subaru could say was this half-word as Rem kissed his cheek again. This time in a different spot.

"Uh-"

Rem kissed him again. This time wasn't on the cheek though.

_Neural overload. Reboot imminent. Please wait._

—

Meiss tiredly shambled down that hall. It had taken almost half an hour to escape from Crusch, and even then he was sure that she had let him go. Damn that woman was deceptively strong.

Meiss froze.

What was that sound?

It was coming from a few doors down, Rem's room.

Meiss soundlessly walked over, curious.

"Stay with me for tonight, Subaru-kun."

"R-Rem, w-won't people be curious as to what we were doing all night? Uhm. B-besides, that was my first time, I still need to emotionally prepare. Rem? REM? Mmphh!"

Meiss spun around, Crusch was the better option.

—

**Kuso - A curse, like yelling “Shit!” After stubbing your toe or something.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh


	11. Re: Pensivity, Arc Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arc 4/season2 time

_**Arc Four:** **｢The Eternal Contract** **｣ "** **Sabbath of Greed"** _

—

Subaru sighed. His butt hurt.

Another bump in the road lifted Subaru a half inch into the air. The blessing of the wind that ground dragons had negated all wind resistance, but did nothing for bumps in the road.

The residents of the Emilia Camp, and Meiss, were riding a carriage back to the Roswaal estate. In particular, Meiss and Emilia were in discussion.

"Well, I still need to learn this country's language... But if it's a matter of this 'Roswaal' getting some use out of me, then he'll have no complaints. Though it sounds bad when said out loud."

Meiss sat on the floor next to one of two seats on the carriage. This was Otto's personal carriage, suited for storing goods, not people.

"I would be happy to let you live with us since Subaru and Rem seem to enjoy being with you, it's just that Roswaal may want some sort of transaction."

And then in a cute, but terrible, imitation of Roswaal, Emilia continued.

"'I'll let you live here but do this thing for me.' Something like that, probably."

Meiss nodded his head, why let someone just freeload in your house? The blonde took advantage in the conversation's break to glance over at Subaru.

"I can definitely think of a few things. Thanks Emilia, for letting me stay with you guys."

Meiss glanced over at Subaru again. His eyes then shifted to Rem, who had fallen asleep while attached to his waist. Meiss snickered, before wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Subaru's face contorted in many emotions and color, before settling on pink anger.

"WHY DOES EVERYONE WIGGLE THEIR EYEBROWS AT ME?!"

Meiss scooted over while maintaining proper brow-wiggle form. Quite an impressive feat, for not many can wiggle their eyebrows with such ferocity.

"I don't knooow~, could be because you spent the night with someone of the opposite gender? Maybe I should try to imitate some of the sou-"

Subaru bonked Meiss’ forehead.

"ENOUGH! ALL WE DID WAS KISS!"

Rem mumbled in her sleep, before rubbing her eyes and lifting herself off of Subaru. Emilia gasped, to most it would sound exaggerated but this is Emilia. The half-elf's eyes trailed from Subaru and Rem to the floor of the carriage. Nobody noticed the sad look on her face, for within heartbeats her ears perked up and a bubbly expression masked her previous one.

"Rem, I'm so happy for you!"

Rem blinked the sleep out of her eyes, before rubbing them once more and stifling a yawn.

"Rem is extremely proud of herself indeed."

"I wonder what your guy's baby will look like. I bet it will be so cute!"

The blush left Subaru's face abruptly. With a straight face…

"Baby?"

"Yeah, kissing makes babies."

Emilia said this with a straight face as well.

Nobody spoke or moved for a long time, as if frozen. Everyone kinda stared awkwardly at each other, then at Emilia, then at each other once more. Emilia hummed to herself, oblivious to her peril.

Eventually, Meiss rose. Shrouded in the darkness made by the canvas siding of the carriage, he chose to take the responsibility upon himself. His knowledge, vast in useless information and bathed in the light of the elements would surely be called upon. But this… this information was far from useless.

"The Talk… Never would I have thought to be delivering it this young…"

Slowly, the boy turned to face the half-elf, who had just noticed the shift in tone. She tilted her head quizzically, wondering why Meiss was looking at her so weirdly.

"You see Emilia, creating bab-"

"MEISS NO!"

Subaru grabbed Meiss and struggled to cover his mouth. The two cursed boys were thrown off balance when the carriage hit another bump. Rem caught them both before they could hit the carriage floor. She gently put Subaru down, and dropped Meiss.

"OW!"

"Leave the lady talk to the only other lady within talking distance, Meiss."

"Lady talk? It's EVERYBODY talk! 'It' involves BOTH genders to make children! Beyond the waterfall, we have vast knowledge of almost everything! I'm way more qualified to teach her than you!"

While Rem glared spears of ice at Meiss, Subaru had settled into a defeated crouch. He suddenly reared onto his knees and shouted to the sky. He cursed the one who had allowed such a thing to happen.

"PUUUCKK!"

Subaru scampered over to the confused half-elf with intense vigor. He grabbed her green crystal necklace, nearly snapping it off. Emilia merely waved her arms around in a panic.

"We need to have a talk Puck, SOON!"

Emilia unclasped Subarus hands and backed away defensively, she hid the crystal from Subaru's view and stroked in gently. She stated to whisper lightly.

"He hasn't come out in a couple days, I'm starting to really worry."

Meiss looked on, wondering why. Surely he had to have a good reason? His gaze then shifted over to the front of the carriage. Otto was staring at them all with a blank expression.

"Please Otto, after we get the other villagers, leave and never return. I have a feeling it's in your best interests."

Subaru looked up from ridiculing Puck long enough to yell at Otto.

"EYES ON THE ROAD! I don't want to crash into a tree!"

Otto didn't turn around.

"My Blessing of the Linguist is hard at work making sure we don't do exactly that."

Otto make a weird gurgling sound, followed with a few low grumbles. The two ground dragons pulling the carriage, Patrasche and Ferho, roared in response. Otto looked super insane during this exchange.

"See? Completely on the road."

Subaru sighed, defeated.

Rem grabbed his hand and tugged him into a corner of the carriage.

"Subaru, Subaru, Felix has asked Rem to work on healing your gate a few times a day."

A blue glow emanated from the Oni's hands as she pressed them into Subaru's middle back. She pressed her entire body into his, exactly like in that other loop. Subaru couldn't stop himself from blushing as he felt her warm breasts press into his back. Rem giggled, tracing circles on Subaru's back around his gate.

"This is a much better place to have a gate than the upper arm."

"What?"

"Nothing."

—

Subaru threw open the carriages back canvas, exposing the world. He gracefully jumped and glided through the air onto the ground, landing in an exaggerated crouch.

"There is nothing like home."

The rest of the passengers were more subdued, with Meiss staring in barely suppressed awe at the size of the mansion in front of him. He had a box in his hands which contained his remaining possessions from the other world. He had gone and recovered it from his temporary place of residence within the capital before leaving Crush's mansion. Secretly, he felt kind of bad leaving Crusch, since she seemed to like him, but Subaru was the only other one who was from beyond the waterfall that Meiss knew of. Not to mention Meiss had a deeper relationship with both Subaru and Rem.

"Wow, I've seen some pretty big houses beyond the waterfall, but this is… wow."

Otto gave a questioning gaze to Meiss. Beyond the waterfall? Rubbish.

Subaru bounded forward and enthusiastically threw open the front door. He danced a few steps in, reveling in his ability to get back here without dying a hundred times. It had only taken six tries this set of loops. Weird to think of six deaths as a small amount, but it was not a hundred, which was good.

"Meiss come on! Despite your problem, I wanna introduce you to-"

A blur of white and black slammed into Subaru, grabbing him and skidding a few meters. Subaru yelled out in pain as he became a meat crayon. A blonde, muscular woman in the Roswaal maid attire was sitting on him, bending his arm into his back and pushing his head into the floor.

"While it would be nice to watch him writhe in pain some more, that's the new guy working here."

The fearsome maid released Subaru, and dusted him off before retreating farther in. Subaru didn't get up though, it appears he was knocked out. The voice from earlier came from the top of the stairs. Ram slid down the railing until the final bend where she was out of sight. She reappeared walking down the steps the rest of the way, as if she hadn't been sliding down the railing.

You were sliding down the railing, admit it.

Rem looked like she wanted to run over and throw herself around the pink-haired maid. Mind and body seemed not to agree though, as she snatched Meiss's box from him and used it to hide her face.

”My box...”

Meiss looked at the unconscious Subaru, who had been defeated in a heartbeat. It was funny, in a sad way. The blonde maid introduced herself as Frederica, she then started trying to wake the boy up by slapping him.

"That is not working… Ram, where is his room?"

The entire returning party, sans Otto who was tending the ground dragons, entered the Roswaal mansion. It was here that the party split. Emilia, accompanied by Rem and Meiss, went to go talk to Roswaal, while Subaru's unconscious body was dragged off by Ram.

Meiss watched the pink-haired maid drag the alien by the foot down the hallway. They went around a corner and Subaru's arm was snagged on the bend, but a few sharp tugs later he was free. Meiss turned to Emilia and Rem.

"I-Is that normal?"

"Yes."

…

"Uhh, I would like to rai-"

A door swung open with such force that a small dent in the wall was created by the handle. An impossibly large library, too large to be placed there, gloomily waited on the other side. The smell of old books was overbearing.

Meiss shot into the doorway, which slammed shut after he was within the library.

Emilia rushed over to the door and flung it open, to reveal a bedroom.

"Meiss may have a difficult time in there, Emilia-sama."

"His spirit affinity's so low it's scary, I hope she doesn't hurt him."

Emilia sighed, and looked over to Rem, who is still holding Meiss' box.

"Actually, now that I remember, I think Roswaal left with the Arlam villagers to that Sanctuary place. Gah, I'm such an idiot for forgetting."

Emilia smacked her forehead, and Rem put Meiss' box down with a huff.

—

"-se a complaint."

Meiss stood still for a second, before the cold warmth of Dolorem spread through his arms. Ok, this is a library, there's a doll on that stool over there, the door hasn't disappeared. Now, what the fiddly fu-

"Betty will tolerate no profanity within her library, in fact."

Meiss spun around to face the talking doll.

Ok then, not a doll. Meiss scrunched his eyes. Going with the pattern of age-body discrepancies, Like how Subaru looked his age, but was almost twenty, or how Emilia looked Subaru's age but was probably in her fifties because elf, or how those small cat-children from the whale fight looked like toddlers but were actually teenagers, this little girl was probably ancient.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Crusch was almost twenty herself. Meiss was only sixteen.

...

T-That's a problem, that's a big problem.

"Hello… Nice to make your acquaintance."

The girl, blond twintails framing her round face, leaned over an oversized book to scrutinize him. She huffed, before looking to her book.

"Your spirit affinity is abysmal in fact. It is taking all of Betty's willpower to not dispose of you immediately, I suppose."

"Spirit what? To bring that up out of nowhere… you must be a spirit then, or closely associated with one..."

Meiss' quick mind put two and two together, and absorbed this new term. Spirit Affinity… must be like a book cover. The higher spirit affinity must mean a more appealing book cover. The inverse must also be true then, and would explain the general distaste most spirits had towards him. Meiss wondered if he even had a cover to begin with.

"Hmm, no response huh? You must not be the loquacious type."

The spirit(?) lazily flipped a page in her book, the leathery page making a rough sound.

"I'm going to apologize in advance, I tend to talk a lot sometimes."

"Far more manners that the other one, I suppose."

"Hmm, I'm assuming you wanted to talk?"

The girl exhaled, before snapping the book shut with enough force to send the sound reverberating throughout the library.

"That would have made the other one flinch, in fact."

The two looked at each other for a few seconds, before the small spirit waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

"The forest was quite busy in the last few days, you were a big part in that. Fill Betty in, I suppose."

Meiss felt his face pull into a slight frown. He stood for a few seconds, before his mouth opened to begin talking. He filled her in on the events that occurred with Petelguese, before moving to the Laifus ambush. He decided to skim over the details greatly.

"So… Sloth… is dead?"

"Yeah, Subaru said he was blown up or something."

The spirit didn't react. Not physically, at least. It was apparent some sort of inner turmoil was present.

"Juice…"

"Juice?"

The spirit waved her hand dismissively, she was covering up her feelings.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose."

Beatrice rested her hand on her book. She looked at the ground, before giving Meiss a sword-like glare.

"That boy, I'm assuming he has absorbed the Sloth Witch-Gene, in fact."

Meiss grimaced, before nodding. That tingling sensation had never left, but his body had grown used to it, like how it stopped feeling clothes over skin.

"That means that part of the Gluttony Witch Gene is floating around somewhere, I suppose… Sloth is a definite, but Gluttony doesn't really fit him, I suppose."

"Part of?"

"There are three Gluttonies, I suppose."

Meiss scrunched up his face in disbelief and anger, before the door opened. An unseen force was slowly pushing him out. Meiss looked at the walls slowly moving past him. It appears that talk time is up.

"Ok, ok, I got it."

Meiss turned and exited the library of his own volition.

Into a bathroom.

It was so spacious, much unlike the cramped occident bathrooms he was familiar with. It reminded him of a pool somewhat, with it's great size and volume. Problem though, he couldn't see anywhere to perform bodily functions. Maybe the two rooms were separate.

"Horndog."

Meiss' appreciation of the size was cut short when the pink-haired maid, Ram, insulted him from the other side of the bath. She didn't even face him as she mopped the floor.

"I just got done talking with the probably 500 year-old spirit; this is where she dropped me off. Also, I am _very_ opposed to being called a 'horndog.'"

The sliding door to the bath opened. The spirit crossed her legs on the stool, the book no longer resting on her lap.

"You have risen in my personal mansion hierarchy I suppose, for realising in the first contact that the all-powerful Betty isn't nine."

Ram walked over and slammed the door shut on Betty.

"I thought I told Beatrice to not use Door Crossing in the bath after what happened last time."

So her name wasn't Betty, but rather Beatrice.

Ram huffed, and left the bath through the previously library-ed door. She didn't clean the entire bath, Meiss noticed. The blonde followed, opening and closing the door a few times to see if the library would reappear. It didn't.

Meiss exited the bath, and got lost.

—

"Hmm."

Subaru looked around Rem's bedroom. It was bare. Rem had little possessions in her room to begin with, but absolutely everything of hers was gone. The owner of said bedroom was slowly turning in a circle in the middle of the room, scrutinizing every bare shelf for what she was missing.

"Barusu."

Subaru jumped at the sudden voice behind him. Rem jumped too, and positioned Subaru between herself and Ram. She clung weakly to his back like a shadow.

"Barusu, I have no problems with you getting frisky, but please don't choose someone who bears such a striking resemblance to me. Also, don't get frisky, the gene pool is polluted enough as is already."

"That was a completely contradictory statement! Also, ow! That hurts my feelings!"

Subaru turned back to glance at Rem. Her shining eyes were peeking at her sister.

"Besides, I was thinking she could stay in this room."

Ram narrowed her pink eyes. Her glare was equivalent to looking at dirt under her nails.

"This is the workers wing, Barusu. I thought even you would have had enough brain function to know that. She must stay in the guest wing for now, until a proper room is set for her."

Subaru's brows motioned to crease before he stopped them.

"If she has no problem with it, then sure."

Ram left, leaving Subaru and Rem alone. The Oni looked dejected. Subaru wrapped his arm around her and led her to the door.

"It's ok Rem, we can move you into the closest room to this wing if you wanna come by my room, or we can move you close to Meiss if you want."

Rem said nothing, merely staring at her sister's back as she retreated down the hall.

—

Meiss, still lost, was walking down the hall towards what he hoped was the main lobby. Turning a corner, a chill went down his back. Looking behind him, he was surprised to find himself standing halfway in a wall. He dipped his hand into the wall, swishing it around. Weird, it was like a hologram.

"HOW LONG IS THIS HALLWAY?!"

Meiss turned to see the green-clad merchant farther down the hallway throwing his arms around at no one in particular. Suddenly, he vanished, only for Meiss to hear his stomping from the opposite end of the hallway.

Someone is giving this poor man the illusion of a looping hallway.

This is hilarious.

When the merchant stomped past, Meiss walked over to the wall adjacent his, and found it to be the same hologram-like thing. He kept walking, spotting a set of stairs at the end of the hallway.

"AAAAAUUGGHHH!"

Otto wouldn't find the end of the hallway anytime soon.

—

Dinnertime. The most glorious and awaited part of the day.

Potatoes, rows upon rows of steamed potatoes.

Out of everyone, including the rare Beatrice, the only one who seemed happy about this development was Meiss.

"Potatoes… Potatoes are amazing."

Subaru stared at Meiss with a depressed expression. Subaru had his memories of Ram's cooking bathed in a negative light. While the one-trick-pony's potatoes were not bad by any means, the things she had done to him with the potatoes… He grimaced.

"Thank you Ram, for the mayonnaise. It's the only thing giving me the strength to choke down these potatoes."

"Yes, thank you. I made sure to make your steamed 'tatoes extra dry, Barusu. Enjoy."

Meiss is enjoying his potatoes for sure.

"Oh, right, I made a plate for our other guest. Barusu, become useful and take her plate to her."

Subaru motioned to get up, but Meiss told him to sit back down.

"You've got some catching up to do, I can take Rem her food. Getting to know everybody can wait."

Ram handed the plate of food to Meiss, who balanced it on his forearm with his own plate. The blonde walked down the hall towards Rem's room, leaving Subaru to fill Ram and Frederica in on recent developments.

Subaru sighed.

"Guess I should get you two up to speed on what happened over the last few days..."

Rem and Meiss both enjoyed their potatoes.


	12. Group 7

Deep within his bedroom, our more-traditionally-protagonist-than-the-other-protagonist was muttering to himself. It seemed like incoherent mutterings to the two who watched him.

"This hunk of rheniite, ReS2 if I remember correctly. But which one is it? Rhenium or some obscure impurity? Sulfur didn't work, so it has to be one of those"

"What is Betty even here for, in fact?"

Meiss turned to face the spirit, who was sitting on his bed with the half-elf, who was immensely curious. Emilia is happy to just watch. Let's not pay attention to how she doesn't understand anything Meiss is saying, neither does Beatrice for that matter.

"You… are here because I have no feasible way to test this outside of sulfur."

Meiss pointed to a lump of yellow rock on the table, which had a blackened hole in the center.

"I'm seriously hoping it's the Rhenium and not an impurity."

Meiss spun to face the wall, gesturing to the large piece of paper he had drawn on. He dramatically spread his arms and presented the poster to the duo.

"This is the periodic table. A genius piece of artwork."

"It is mere blocks with names, hardly artwork I suppose."

"Well I guess you're right, hardly the best looking... but but but, what it can accomplish is extraordinary!"

Emilia clasped her hands and stared in awe at the less-than magical properties of the grid.

"The periodic table is a collection of all the known elements, ordered and grouped ingeniously. This is the halogens, this is the noble gasses, all the way over here is the alkali and alkaline-earth metals, this giant block is the-"

Meiss froze. Beatrice had an interested glint in her eyes now.

"Sorry, I seem to have caught myself in the early stages of a rant."

The half-elf tilted her head, trying to remember the small amount of information.

"What are we going to do with this, Meiss?"

Meiss pointed to Re, the block representing Rhenium.

"We need this element. It is called rhenium, the other ingredient in this rock. Problem is that like almost all the other metals it is grey, and also happens to be extremely rare. True shame, for it is extremely durable when made into an alloy. Used in stuff like airplanes."

"Airplanes?"

"Oh yeah, forgot. Airplanes are like giant metal carriages that fly without magic. Lots of them beyond the waterfall."

Beatrice stood up abruptly, her brows scrunched. Emilia looked at Meiss questioningly.

"Beyond the waterfall, you say… You wouldn't happen to from that very place, now would you I suppose?"

"Yeah, I am. From a whole other world. Much different from this one. Anyways, I have an idea as how to-"

"YOU CAN'T JUST BRUSH IT OFF LIKE NOTHING, I SUPPOSE!"

"Ok Beatrice. ANYWAYS, I have an idea as how to get some rhenium. But first, I don't think I told you what the rheniite does, Beatrice."

Beatrice huffs and tries to grab Meiss' collar, and succeeds since he is so short. There was only a six inch difference in their heights, so it was no hard feat. Beatrice swung him around by the collar, and Meiss struggled to stay upright. It was super amusing for Emilia to watch this. Two people shorter than her fighting was surprisingly funny. She suppressed a giggle.

"Wow, you've only known Beatrice for two days and you already get along so well. I'm quite envious of you Meiss."

Beatrice swiveled her head to glare daggers at Emilia. She opened her mouth to refute her, giving Meiss an opening.

"HAH!"

"KYAAAH!"

Meiss held Beatrice away from him with an Acedia wire, temperature obviously low. Beatrice tried grabbing at Meiss, failed because he was so far away, and started clawing at the Acedia. Meiss picked the lump of rheniite up, positioning it over the Acedia wire that sprouted from his hand.

"As I was saying, this rock has a special property."

He dropped the rheniite, severing the Acedia holding back Beatrice.

"It nullifies Authorities."

Beatrice stopped struggling when the Acedia was severed in a puff of brown and gold smoke. She stared at the rock so carelessly dropped on the floor. She said something so low that nobody could hear it.

"If we had this back then… The past is unchangeable, I suppose."

Meiss leaned over and offered his hand to the spirit. She slapped his hand away. Meiss raised an eyebrow and pointed his thumb at the periodic table.

"I'll teach you all about it if you help me, I'll even throw in an extra favor later."

—

Off-key whistling echoed off the walls as Subaru trudged along. He had resumed his butler duties and odd-jobs around the mansion. The wait for their departure to Sanctuary was unbearable. The bucket he was holding swayed at his side, the mop draped over his shoulder dug into a sore spot. He sighed to himself.

"YES!"

Subaru tilted his head to the side. What? Who would suddenly scream loud enough to be heard down the hallway? He noticed an ajar door further down the hallway. That's Meiss' room, right? All the way at the end too...

Subaru curiously made his way over to the blonde's room. He made no effort to be sneaky, but the cheering was louder than his footsteps. Cheering? What the hell is going on in there? Poking his head in, Subaru almost wished he hadn't.

"COME ON, YOU'VE GOT THIS BEATRICE!"

"Good job Bea- Oh wow! It's sparking!"

"HA HA~! TRY AGAIN!"

Subaru watched silently as Beatrice wove her hands around dramatically. Meiss was cheering her on loudly, while Emilia watched with wide eyes. Sweat dripped down Beatrice's forehead as she concentrated on what she was doing.

As for what she was doing…

Four clusters of grainy yellow rocks floated in front of Beatrice, along with one lump of dull grey metal. She flicked her wrist, and the dull metal became mirror-like. The little girl waved her arms closer together, and the rocks collided once more. Beatrice strained herself a little more, and the rocks seemed to overlap each other. Sparks started to fly as soon as the smallest sliver of overlapping occurred.

"YES YES YES! A LITTLE MORE!"

Beatrice finally scrunched her face up, and her hands plunged together. It was as if all resistance was removed, allowing her to completely overlap the rocks. The air around the combined lump seemed to pulsate with fiery air, and the substance itself glowed white hot. Beatrice exhaled, and the metal cooled into a smooth, silvery-grey metal.

Meiss plucked it from the air, catching Beatrice with his other arm as she collapsed. The blonde's arm wavered under the weight of the baseball-sized metal lump. He tucked his arm holding the metal under Beatrice's legs and lifted her onto his bed. The little girl grinned weakly, and started muttering something about wanting to learn about tables.

Meiss looked fondly at the metal in his hand. His arm still shook slightly, it must be heavier that it looks. Then his arm rippled with glowing color, Subaru recognized it as Dolorem. Strange though, his hand was bare as he lifted the rock above his head, brown and gold smoke continually flowed off the edge of the ability.

"At last, the unknown secret of group 7… We... HAVE... **RHENIUM**!"

Subaru watched all this with blank eyes. Meiss started to giggle uncontrollably, and then started to laugh maniacally. Subaru closed the door and continued on his way.

—

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA HA HAUuuuh…"

Meiss set the heavy lump of metal on his table. Damn, he knew Rhenium was heavy, but not that heavy. Well, the stuff is super rare beyond the waterfall, he had only held a few small pellets in his hand once.

"Man, I didn't think it would actually work. Forcefully smushing atoms together like that must have taken a fair bit of energy."

Meiss turned to the weak Beatrice, who was being propped up by Emilia.

"The entire process is quite weird I suppose. Instead of one use of mana, it is a continuous flow of mana consumption in fact. My body is not used to such a thing. Although it requires quite little mana, which is peculiar considering the state I am in now I suppose."

Meiss sat on the edge of the table, thinking.

"Meiss, what did we do exactly?"

Meiss looked up at Emilia's query. He got off the table and walked over to the grid on the wall.

"What we did was take four of these atoms right here, Sulfur, and one of these over here, Sodium. We forced them together to make the Rhenium. You see, these are the smallest divisions of anything we can make, the building blocks of the world I guess. But we can break them down even further. Each atom has a set amount of protons. We merely took the previously named atoms and added their protons together into Rhenium."

Beatrice closed her eyes. Emilia was still smiling, not understanding anything but fascinated nonetheless.

"That was extremely messy, that grey metal kept getting that film on it and wanting to light on fire in fact. Not to mention how hard it was to make them not explode when fusing them together. You better have a very big 'thank you' planned I suppose."

Meiss sighed with a genuine smile on his face. If they could refine this process, then isolating elements for future projects may be child's play.

Meiss had a moment of clarity. Future projects… there were so many things he could bring over from beyond the waterfall. Meiss inhaled, his smile a little droopy. But… this place is amazing, beautiful, untouched by the innovations from beyond the waterfall. Meiss decided small things, only small things should be brought over. Like washing machines.

Meiss picked up the rhenium and transitioned himself to the bed with Emilia and Beatrice. He stretched out his hand, giving the rhenium to Beatrice. She grabbed it from him, nearly dropping the heavy metal before she scrutinized it.

"All that for something so lackluster I suppose?"

"Ah, don't be so mean. Almost every metal is grey. At least have the consolation that it is extremely likely this is the largest chunk of pure rhenium in existence, whether here or beyond the waterfall."

Beatrice harrumphed and set the blob next to her on the bed. She climbed over and started staring at it, then touched it. The metal elongated into a straight blade about two feet long, ending in a rod for a handle.

"I assume you wanted something like this I suppose."

Meiss blinked at the shortsword before picking it up and examining it.

"No, well, yes, but not... no. Um… pure rhenium as a weapon would be a bad idea. It's hard, yes, but it's very bendy and easy to shape."

Meiss activated dolorem on his arms, and the brown-gold smoke drifted off his wrists once more. He bent the weapon near ninety degrees. Then tried to bend it back into shape.

"Pretty bad, right? Stuff could never hold an edge in sustained combat."

Meiss walked over to the table and placed the bent sword on it, before gesturing back over to the periodic table, using acedia like a pointer.

"Which means we either need to make an alloy, or test manganese. You see, each column of elements has similar properties to the ones in their columns, So it stands to reason that manganese would also have anti-authority properties. Not to mention manganese is much lighter."

Emilia squinted for a second.

"I feel like there is some sort of problem."

Meiss sighed, he remembered how they acquired the sodium. Him leaning out of the window holding a cup of table salt while Beatrice separated the chlorine from the sodium. He would gladly do that again, but manganese would be difficult. They had gotten the chunks of sulfur from Roswaal's study. They were placed neatly in a stack on his desk.

"Well, unlike with rhenum, there aren't any easy-to-get elements we can smush together. Aluminum would be the best bet, but that goes one proton over, making iron. The next element I would try is either boron or oxygen. Neither of which we can get or isolate. So we're stuck."

"Why don't we just remove one of those proton things?"

Meiss froze. How had he not thought of that? He would have to explain the structure of an atom to Beatrice, but…

"That… is an amazing idea Emilia, Thank you."

Meiss slowly turned to Beatrice, trying to form some sort of offer in his head for her.

"Hmph, no need to ask I suppose. But you _will_ teach me more of this 'periodic table' stuff in fact."

"Heh, I already said I would. Now, what we need to do…"

—

Ram toiled away in the kitchen. Her knife splitting steamed potatoes with practiced ease. Simultaneously, her wind magic mixed a batch of mayo.

"Hmm, the ones who went to the capital have returned days ago. No doubt those in Sanctuary are getting restless. I may have to check to see if everything is running smoothly over there."

Ram stopped with a knife halfway through a potato. Why hadn't Roswaal returned with the villagers? Or at least sent a messenger to tell of his absence? Loath as she was to admit it, even to herself, she was worried.

"HA HA! MAN-GA-NESE!"

"Ah!"

Ram flinched at the sudden noise, jerking the knife awkwardly. As a result, the lower half of the potato became smushed.

Ram looked at it indifferently.

"That one can be Barusu's"

—

Ah, dinnertime. A most magical time for bonding over great food.

Meiss stared at the great spirit down the table. His face was blank, his mind having already resigned to his fate. He picked up his plate and made his way over to Beatrice. Wordlessly, he scraped half of his steamed potatoes onto her plate. She drew a sphere of metal roughly three inches in diameter from her robes and handed it to him.

Meiss spotted Ram glaring at him from the head of the table where she stood. Her gaze went from him to his plate of steamed potatoes.

"I'm not trying to skimp on your potatoes Ram."

"The silly boy merely lost a bet, in fact. Do not worry, your unparalleled steamed 'tatoes will not go to waste I suppose."

Meiss ignored the sound of giggling coming from Emilia and returned to his seat. He ate in silence, resting his head on his hand. He heard Ram inhale and turned to face her before she started to speak.

"Well, as a notice, I am going to Sanctuary to observe the state of affairs. Roswaal's silence on- get rid of that face Barusu, it lowers my intelligence faster than being in the same room as you."

Subaru was staring at Ram, flashing his dejected puppy eyes. Seems like he wanted to go with her. Unfortunately for him, Ram is immune to the puppy eyes technique. She glared at him and he retreated with a defeated look on his face.

Otto waited for the exchange to end before standing up to deliver his bit.

"I have already talked with Ram, Patrache and Ferho needed some rest after all that's happened, but ground dragons regain strength quickly. We will make the journey tomorrow in the morning. Sorry for such a short notice, but Ram wanted to leave as soon as possible."

So, a sanctuary, huh? Or rather, the place had been referred to as just "Sanctuary." If the name actually meant something then what was it guarding, or guarding against? Then again, it could just be a name. Meiss opened his ears to see if anyone would say any more… Nothing.

Out of everyone here, the maids were the most likely to know something. Problem though, was that Ram and Frederica were standing silently at the head of the table. Rem was trying to make herself as small as possible next to Subaru, while sneaking glances at Ram. Meiss scooped potato into his mouth. He was new here too, they probably wouldn't trust him with that sort of information anyways.

So Meiss turned back to his experiments with Beatrice. The ability to remove a proton took more mana than combining atoms together, but it didn't have such a toll on Beatrice. The spirit had asked about the other two elements in the column, which had Meiss frantically telling her to _not_ try to make them because they would kill everyone.

Meiss thought about how to utilize the properties in a weapon. Rhenium was too bendy and malleable. Manganese was brittle and would break after a few strikes if he was lucky. So the only option would be to make an alloy with either rhenium or manganese. Meiss bit down on a potato with annoyance. He had a feeling something bad would happen, regardless of Subaru not saying anything with his foresight. Damn consecutive incidents, extremely annoying.


	13. The Winding Road to a Sanctuary

"I have never had the pleasure to dance with someone like you."

Color rippled underneath his clothes. His adversary stood proud down the dark hall. Moonlight seemed to flow off her hands, pooling into sharp blades. The tatters of her black cloak flowed behind her, and burns criss-crossed her highly exposed figure.

"I could say the same of you; I've never fought someone so… _slippery_. Then again, my experience is actually quite limited."

_She's even slippier than Gluttony, with all his jumping around and twirling._

The woman slouched, before her form shot up the wall and over him. The sharp squeal of metal ricocheted off the walls as her blade cleaved through the chains of a chandelier. The metal frame dropped, only for him to swipe his hand through the framework. The light fixture clanked to the ground around him, burning globs of metal splattering the ground like white-orange blood. She smiled, an expression that reached into her eyes, as her feet touched the ground.

"If we're describing each other, then I should mention that you are still standing even with that hole in your stomach. Really, quite interesting."

Her words prompted him to look down once more. Yep, that gash in his abdomen was still there. Really, thank you stagno, damage nullification may have not been activated in time but pain reduction was a lifesaver. He noticed a little bit of guts poking out, so he tenderly slipped them back into his body. Slimy.

He focused his sharp gaze back at the woman. Never stray your gaze, keep your opponent in eye's reach. She raised her ornate kukri above her head, the moonlight glinting off them once more. She flipped in the air, despite not having any momentum to work with, and started to flip towards him like a gymnast on steroids. He raised his arms, the faint color like a beacon in the darkness. _The Guthunter_ was another person he needed to get revenge on, despite meeting her less than an hour ago. Melancholy dashed forward as a cacophony of demon beasts pressed on his eardrums.

—

Moonlight filtered through his window. Meiss breathed in the familiar scent of paper. It was very different from the old and musty smell of the forbidden library, much more pleasant. The blonde leaned back in his chair, his shoulder-length hair parted in the middle of his forehead, framing his face. It was too quiet. Beyond the waterfall, Meiss was the most comfortable with some sort of background noise. Heaters, fans, chatter, anything with repetitive, unbroken sound. There was nothing like that in this world, or at least nothing as loud as a fan. He had discovered that the crystals used to measure time produced a faint humming, but nothing particularly loud and 'background noise'-ish.

Ferris, despite his weird grudge against him, had allowed Meiss to keep the set of dress clothes. They were too stuffy and constricting for Meiss though, mostly in the top half. Despite being over half a foot taller than him, Ferris was much slimmer than him and had slimmer clothing. So he had ditched the shirt in favor of wearing a pajama shirt all day. Dress pants with a pajama shirt; Meiss rocked it.

As for what Meiss was doing, he was drawing plans. He had been wracking his brain, trying to remember the percentages of ingredients in an alloy. When he was reasonably sure he was accurate to the actual measurements, he started to draw up plans for what he would be doing with the metal. Four different sketches were spread before him, and none of them looked particularly appealing.

"Now that I remember, Subaru said that Petelgeuse screamed the name of his Authority in japanese whenever he used it. My… _gospel_ … had Melancholy written in latin…?"

Meiss felt his face scrunch as he spat out the word _gospel_. His disgust overriding the question he had asked nobody. If he could burn his gospel again, he would gladly. Maybe rip it up into tiny pieces first. Meiss tore his brain from the cult, refocusing on the papers in front of him. This would be the second committed weapon he would make with Beatrice's help, and it would be much more detailed.

"Maybe instead of such a modern design, I'll go with something older…"

—

The blonde rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping and falling. He had fallen asleep at his desk, nearly missing the departure. Meiss still couldn't shake the feeling of unease he had. Maybe it was just his anxiety about not being able enough, or his worry for the nameless Rem, but him dismissing the tingle in his neck on the Laifus highway had shocked him into not ignoring this feeling. As a result of being on edge for the past two and a half days, he was understandably tired, yet not sleepy. How paradoxical.

The boy saw Rem heading for the main door. Since the Laifus ambush, she had started to wear casual clothing. Meiss could tell she was still getting used to it. Along with her name, much, if not all, of her physical existence had been disposed of; including clothes. No momentos, or personal belongings beyond whatever she had worn, it truly made Meiss' blood boil.

There it was again, that feeling had been popping up more and more lately. This unquenchable feeling of ire, of _wrath_. Meiss had his revenge for what Guttony did to him before he met Subaru. While he still harbored animosity for the witch cult, what had happened, what he had _let_ happen, provoked this overlap with his existing feelings about the cult.

"Oh, Meiss. Rem was nearly about to come get you. Our departure for Sanctuary is not something Rem thought you would enjoy missing."

"No, not at all."

Meiss smiled at Rem, stepping off the last step. The Oni's own smile faltered when she saw his. _She knows how much you wish you could have done more._ Meiss felt his eyes drift, and his smile falter slightly into something akin to pensivity.

The blue haired woman exited the main lobby, turning to hold the door open for Meiss. The blonde smacked his palms into his face, waking himself up. He used his hands to roughly comb his hair over his head, before walking out into the early morning sun. The blonde huffed at the single lock of hair that danced in front of his face, which remained ever stubbornly.

Meiss blinked the brightness out of his eyes, and rested them upon Otto's carriage. It was going to be a long ride for them, with only two seats. Surely 'The Roswaal' had more passenger friendly carriages somewhere? Maybe it was just Otto not wishing to encroach on the Mather's property more than he already had. What's more important? Nice padded seats (and more than two), or being polite?

Meiss himself was not making the journey, the feeling of despair had him anxious as all hell. Enough fighting force was going to Sanctuary, what if something happened at this mansion? Plus, it would give him the opportunity to explore the area in it's entirety, which would probably take a whole day unless he had Frederica give him a tour, and he didn't want to take time out of her day for something like that.

"Hey, Meiss!"

Breaking through Meiss' thoughts, Subaru enthusiastically waved his arm at the boy. Meiss walked up, and Subaru clapped him on the shoulder. Gathered around was the entire mansion populace. Frederica was making sure the ground dragons were harnessed properly, Rem was starting a conversation with Emilia while sneaking glances at her sister, who was instructing Otto on which direction they were to go. Subaru beamed at Meiss as he retracted his hand and turned towards the carriage.

"Hey man, I'm counting on you to hold down the fouUuAHuG AUUGH!"

Meiss, along with everyone else jumped as Subaru started to scream in apparent pain. The blonde caught the cursed boy as he started to crumple to the ground. Subaru was clawing at his arm and back, as if trying to rip something off of him. Meiss had a hard time holding him while he convulsed like that, nearly dropping him a few times. Not to mention the height difference had Subaru convulsing practically on top of Meiss.

"Subaru!?"

"SUBARU-KUN!"

"N-Natsuki-san?"

"Su… Suba- SUBARU STOP MOVING!"

The japanese boy started to convulse less, and began to breathe heavily. Meiss felt his own heartbeat run faster than Usain Bolt. A trickle of ice shot down the blonde's spine. Sudden change of attitude, with seemingly involuntary movements. Meiss' brain played over the previous week. Teaching the great spirit and half-elf about elements. Arriving at the Roswaal mansion. Crusch immorally pursuing him. Killing Gluttony and fighting Greed. The Hakugei.

Meiss remembered this happening before.

Subaru was fine now, a little out of breath, but acting normal. His heartbeat was wild and erratic, as if coming out of a life-and-death situation. The cursed boy leaned a little farther in, whispering into Meiss' ear.

"Meiss, I-"

And then it _stopped_. His heart _stopped_. There was no way he couldn't notice that. Heavy, erratic beating, suddenly replaced with stillness. Meiss felt the ice in his spine grow into a glacier, Subaru seemed as fragile as glass. Then his heart started beating once more… _What?_

Everyone stared worriedly at Subaru, even Ram was curious. Rem and Emilia rushed over to Meiss, who was still supporting Subaru. The older teen seemed to be in a daze, he was breathing heavily and his eyes were glossy. Emilia grabbed his unsupported side, relieving Meiss of the entire weight. Rem came and peered at Subaru's face. She was worried, who wouldn't be? Meiss used his one now-free hand to gesture the Oni closer.

"Us three need to talk, _right now_."

—

"Subaru."

"Nani?"

"Don't 'nani?' me."

Subaru flinched at Meiss' icy stare. He hadn't seen it in a few days. The blonde had dragged him and Rem to the kitchen of the mansion to talk in private. It had taken a bit of haggling to persuade Ram that she shouldn't abandon them. This better be worth that.

"What the _fuck_ was that back there?"

"I- uh."

"Subaru-kun, please tell Rem."

"I can't."

"Like _HELL_ you can't! Cut the shit, your heart just fucking _stopped_ , Subaru! This isn't a conversation you're going to weasel out of! I know you just got some prophetic vision, so _spill_."

Subaru flinched. He had never heard Meiss yell in conversation before, the closest was a stern tone of voice. Rem seemed taken aback as well at Meiss' outburst, as well as this _prophetic vision_ Meiss spoke of. The blonde paced back and forth in front of the kitchen's island, stopping occasionally to rest his arm on it, before resuming his pacing. He was mumbling to himself before he stopped and straightened his back. Meiss whipped around and waved his arm to both Subaru and Rem, Transparent, just barely there, a bubble formed around the two of them.

"There, Quiescence. Now spill it, Subaru."

Subaru shook his head no, which aggravated Meiss more. He threw his arms up in the air, slamming them down on his face similar to after he killed Ley. He rubbed vigorously for a second. Before another membrane formed around the boy. Meiss braced himself as arcs of electricity flared into existence around him. He went stiff at the currents flowing through his body, and leaned against the table. Slow burns crawled up his arms and legs, but he merely clenched his teeth and shut his eyes.

"There… N-now nothing can affect me or you guys. These Quiescence bubbles, to put it simply, negate all outside interference as well as prevent those inside from attacking. What I mean is we'll be safe within these. Now whatever you were worrying about hurting us, or whatever hurt you, can no longer do anything."

Subaru widened his eyes. Meiss was hurting himself to hear this…

"I-"

Subaru clenched his chest, warily glancing around. The hands, they're here.

Crowded in a corner, the eastern wall, three black, shimmering purple hands gathered. They reached out towards the trio, and Subaru felt a spike of fear. These things had killed Emilia before, who was to say they wouldn't kill Rem and Meiss after the bubbles were gone?

"Talk."

Meiss’ eyes were wide and bore into Subaru.

Then Subaru realized Meiss wouldn't let him go unless he talked. Rem looked at him expectantly, her shining blue eyes seeming to stare into his soul.

"Rem will believe anything Subaru-kun, remember?"

Subaru closed his eyes, shutting out everything for a second. He clenched his chest, the glassy feeling shivered through him for a second. He shut his eyes tighter…

"I-"

…

"-can… Redo."

Meiss narrowed his eyes. _Redo?_ Was that it? The secret to Subaru's prophetic visions, was redoing? What was he redoing? Is he reversing time when things go bad? Are there any limits? Why has he been so hesitant to mention this before? How is the power activated?

"So you're telling me you can redo things? The logical leap is-“

”URUSAI!”

Subaru suddenly screamed that at Meiss.

Meiss looked like he was about to object, but he hit his limit with the electricity and undid Quiescence.

Rem looked shocked, dumbfounded, and like the pieces to a puzzle were falling into place. Like everything was made clear.

…

"I'm coming with you guys."

—

"This is certainly a surprise, for Meiss to change his mind so suddenly."

Emilia commented this. Her face didn't denote any problems with the situation until she realized she might have to share a seat with him. The half-elf glanced at Subaru and Rem, who were sharing a seat opposite her and talking about something. It was weird, everytime she sees the two of them together she gets this uncomfortable creepy-crawly feeling in her shoulders. It is nigh impossible to explain.

Meiss gently climbed into the carriage, his face overcast with shadows. These disappeared as he moved to sit on the carriage bed next to Emilia. She noticed the slightly worried look on his face, and how he kept glancing back at the mansion as if he expected it to be swallowed by Ql Dona.

The half elf was too busy looking at his face, and she was surprised when she noticed his attire was different. He had swapped the dress pants he got from Ferris out for some non-restrictive pajama pants. _Probably the matching half to the shirt he was wearing_. What really struck her was his upper half. The blonde had some sort of vest with stitched-off sections. It looked like it was padded as well, and made of the same smooth material as Subaru's weird clothes. Underneath it was a heavy looking light-grey shirt with a stripe of grey-blue material that seemed to cling to his wrists and torso.

The carriage lurched suddenly, startling Emilia a little bit at the sudden movement. She spotted Frederica standing by herself at the gates to the mansion. The maid waved goodbye at the leaving party, and Emilia waved back along with Subaru.

The Emilia Camp departs… for **Sanctuary**.

…

It's a rather boring trip.

—

Ram was seated in the driver's seat together with Otto, directing him with turns and such. Not a very hard task, very befitting of the beautiful(?), charming(?), and competent(?) Ram-sama.

"Hehe, Beatrice would throw a fit if she knew you were teaching me without her. So, the hologems are the ones to stay away from?"

"Yeah she would, and it's halogens. Actually, there are a fair number of things on this table you should stay away from. Chief here are the grey guys down at the bottom."

Meiss shifted the piece of paper in his hands, trying to catch the light while also holding it up so that Emilia wouldn't have to lean too far down. He was pointing to the lower end of the table; the synthetic metals. He had used ink to color code certain areas to make them easier to understand.

"These synthetics are especially bad. Imagine just looking at some inconspicuous grey metal and having your skin burn off for no reason. That's kinda what would happen with a lot of the atoms here."

"O..Oh."

The carriage hit a bump, sending Meiss' rump into the air. The following impact with the hard wood prompted Meiss to think about stealing Emilia's seat. The impact with the carriage bed also sent a sliver of metal tumbling from Meiss' puffer vest. The flat, shiny piece of metal bounced across the bed of the carriage, eventually landing at Rem's feet. The curious Oni picked it up, examining the small rectangle of metal. Her eyes went even more puzzled when she realized it came to a point, _like a throwing knife_ , she realized.

"What's this?"

"Oh, oh."

Emilia nearly fell out of her seat she was leaning so far forward. She had her finger to her chin in a thinking position, and a smile slightly creased her face. It looked as if she really wanted to say something.

"That's 25, Mn, 54, [Ar-"

"Stop stop stop."

Meiss was waving his hands, desperately trying to veer Emilia away from overloading anyone's poor brain. The blonde realized he probably should have started teaching the periodic table with the first twenty or so elements. They had found out that Emilia's spirit magic was able to synthesize metals as well, leading to the deduction that spirit magic as a whole was what gave the ability to transform matter, with Beatrice's conformation. It was a new thing for Meiss to learn at least, and he had wanted both Beatrice and Emilia to know how to make the metals just in case. Having a weapon that bypasses something like Greed would relieve a lot of anxiety.

Subaru tilted his head to give Emilia a weird look. He was rewarded with her own cute head tilt.

"You know what all that is?"

Rem looked at Subaru skeptically. It sounded to her as if Emilia had started to mutter incoherent numbers and letters with no meaning. Like some archaic spell that only a select few know.

"Does Subaru-kun know what Emilia-sama was talking about?"

"Yes, yes, Meiss has been teaching Beatrice and I some stuff about the periodic table."

Emilia waved her arms majestically in the air, accentuating her words.

"It has everything ever in it! Apparently the world beyond the great waterfall is ~super advanced or something. I don't know what they're advanced in, but they're advanced. Oh! Meiss is from beyond the great waterfall, is something I should also mention."

Emilia put her hands to her side and puffed out her chest triumphantly. This made it even funnier when nobody gasped in surprise to Meiss' alien status, or even reacted at all. That triumphant look turned into that of a lost puppy. Poor Emilia.

Subaru was handed the manganese throwing knife stake thing, and examined it closely. He nearly cut off his nose when the carriage hit a bump in the road, forcing him to jerk the metal far from his face in shock. Holding it gave Subaru this sense of _mortality_ that he wasn't comfortable with. It was weird, because Subaru had died so many times, yet after the first few he never had that sense of _finality_. It was unnerving, and sent a chill down his spine.

"Uh, what is this for exactly?"

Meiss waked over and took the manganese stake from Subaru, holding it up so that it caught the light. Subaru let go of his nervous breath. The sun reflected off the surface blindingly, yet there were dark spots where the metal had little depressions.

"Well, you may have heard me yelling yesterday. This was why. Column seven on the periodic table contains four known elements: Manganese, Technetium, Rhenium, and Bohrium. While technetium and bohrium have not been tested, on account of radioactivity that I really don't want to mess with, rhenium and manganese show the unusual property of bypassing authorities."

For demonstration, Meiss activated dolorem. The twin streaks of color marbled across his skin in swirling patterns that sent a warm glow to everyone's eyes. The eyesore was around Meiss' wrist, where that brown-gold smoke drifted off of a blurred line of cyan and orange energy. Meiss swished his other hand around the smoke, and then tried to blow it away like one would do to the steam rising from a meal.

"With the small amount of material we had, this is the best Beatrice and I could do at the moment. Although my one gripe is that it is very cumbersome to carry ten of these around all the time."

Meiss shook his pockets, and the sound of metal rang through the carriage. Meiss pointed a finger at the weirdly colored smoke falling from his wrist. It was cold, _really_ cold, like dipping your hand into frigid water and having the moisture sucked from your body at the same time.

"I've taken to calling this smoke here 'Witch Vapor.' Seems kind of fitting to me. Instantly gives off a negative connotation, even if you didn't know who the Witch was... no _is_ , I think."

Rem peered at the stake in Meiss' hands once more, before she scooted over, forcing Subaru to get off his side of the seat. She beckoned to Meiss, telling him to sit next to her. With superhuman restraint, she barely ignored Subaru's hurt expression as he sat next to Emilia, whose very presence made his expression not look like a dejected puppy.

Meiss, puzzled, sat down next to Rem, who was thin enough to leave room for both of them. Poor Subaru was barely sitting on his seat, you would be more accurate to say he was wall-sitting. Emilia was hogging the rest.

"Meiss, where is your gate?"

"Oh, uh, here."

Meiss rolled up his left sleeve to expose the raised ridges of darker skin along his forearm. Every time he saw them a flash of memory would press itself to the front of his mind. The blonde tried to force them down, but no matter what mental gymnastics he pulled, some sights always slipped through.

 _Eura lay in a -_ stop - _twin flashes of twirling knives -_ not right now - _warm flesh parted by cold me -_ gO AwAy - _his face was so smug as he licked -_ GO AWAY.

Meiss felt himself launch out of his memories forcefully. He realized Rem was just starting to explain something to him. So he was out for a few seconds at best. Meiss just felt lucky he hadn't started sweating during that. Rem didn't seem to notice that anything had happened as she took Meiss' forearm in her hands. The blonde snapped fully back to attention and pointed to a spot near the direct center of the scarring.

"Here."

Rem traced a finger in a circle around where Meiss had pointed. Blue light shone from her finger. Her brows creased for a second, and the blue light shone for a few seconds more.

"Meiss' gate is… defective."

"That hurts, you know. I've known for a while, so if whatever you wanted to do requires magic, you're out of luck."

"No magic is required for doing things like this."

Rem lifted up her arm, and pointed to the inside of her arm, between the biceps and triceps. The area glowed blue slightly before the Oni pulled a handle from the glowing circle. The handle popped out, revealing it to be attached to a chain.

"I- Is that your morningstar?"

"Yes, this is Rem's signature weapon."

Meiss hadn't really thought about it, but she pulled that thing out of nowhere when they were fighting Ley and Regulus. Now Meiss was thinking about how much could be held by the gate, her morningstar was pretty large. Rem pulled the rest of the weapon from her arm, letting it hang in her hands. Did the head of it shrink down to fit inside?

"Cool, super useful, please show me. These manganese stakes dig into my leg occasionally and it's really uncomfortable."

Rem giggled, though Meiss couldn't tell what was funny about sharp objects constantly stabbing him.

"So anyone with a gate can do that?"

"Yes, which means spirit arts users like Emilia-sama cannot, as they use the spirits to manipulate mana for them."

Rem poked his gate again, a puzzled expression arising on her face. Meiss got the feeling something even more was wrong with his gate, and felt a little dejected at the prospect of that on top of not being able to use magic.

"Meiss… your gate is overactive? There is a small fracture in it that is constantly leaking the mana your body produces, and your body produces copious amounts of mana, far above average. The normal gate would last a month before mana poisoning occurs, but with this, you would last a week at best. This fracture, and not having a gate before coming to this world, is probably what kept you alive."

Meiss huffed out of the side of his mouth - _Ley stumbling back as a blade of wind cut through his shoulder -_ So his gate produced around four times the average amount? That would be useful if he could use it without hurting himself.

"I may have used magic once, just once. I had a very good reason."

Rem lightly smacked his gate, the tough scars uncomfortably dug into his muscles.

"Do not use magic again! There is an extremely high chance you would collapse your gate, which could be life-threatening! You should consider yourself very lucky that it didn't collapse that time! Rem's Subaru-kun would be very sad if you died."

Meiss put his arms up in resignation, not wanting to be lectured. He had enough lecturing last night when he taught Beatrice and Emilia the basics on elements. It was his own lecturing, but still.

Across the carriage, Emilia and Subaru watched the scenery blur past them through the front opening. Subaru silently wished the blessing of the wind let _some_ wind through, so he could see Emilia's hair wave beautifully in the gentle breeze. Alas, it was never meant to be. Emilia turned to him, and her expression was more serious than Subaru expected.

"Do you ever get the feeling that ~lots of people are keeping secrets from us?"

"Yeah, I get that mostly from Puck, though I haven't really had the chance to ask that many questions."

Emilia looked down. Too late, Subaru realized that he had accidentally made her think about Puck. She silently rubbed his crystal and closed her eyes. Her expression was unreadable to Subaru. An eternity seemed to pass before she looked back up at him.

"It's not just Puck, Subaru, it's Roswaal, Ram, Frederica, and even Meiss gives me that feeling sometimes. Though I think he is keeping it to himself because it's personal."

"How are you so good at understanding people, Emilia-tan? It's weird."

Emilia waved her arms around, shocked. She darted her eyes over to Meiss a few times before she started to speak again.

"Ok, I'll try not to do that as much, thanks for telling me that it's weird Subaru."

Subaru decided to not tell her that he was joking. Though he noticed Emilia's eyes stray over to Meiss again, before trailing to Rem. The half-elf rolled her shoulders and leaned in a little too close to Subaru. _Veeery_ close, just teetering on the edge of no-no close. She began to whisper quietly.

"Subaru, Suabru, do you care for Rem as much as you do me?"

Subaru felt relaxed and anxious at the same time. She should already know the answer. He glanced at Rem, who was fiddling with a glowing white dot on Meiss' arm, his gate. The alien looked back at the half-elf. Was this jealousy coming from Emilia? Ho ho, it would be like a dream come true…

"I love you both equally. My heart has been cut in two figuratively, and you both have a half of it. I'm just giving Rem a little more attention because she's going through a bad time. If you want me to give _you_ some more attention, you could just ask."

… to have the both of them pull him in two.

Hey, that rhymed.

Also ouch.

Really, ouch.

"Ouch, ouch ow ow, Emilia-tan please stop hitting me, it's not cute at all. OW!"

It was quite a spectacle, observing Emilia attack Subaru for seemingly no reason. Well, fierce pinches and chops to the head wouldn't leave any lasting physical scars. The mental scars Subaru was acquiring though were nothing to be trifled with.

Next to him, Meiss heard Rem suppress her giggles. He looked at her worriedly, was watching the love of your life be assaulted that funny? It wasn't funny in Meiss' experiences with those he cared for, it was actually rather traumatizing.

"Rem is rather jealous of Emilia-sama right now."

"You want to violently attack Subaru?"

Rem looked at him as if he didn't understand what she had said. He did, he was just trying to be funny. Meiss resumed focus on his arm, and dipped the manganese spike experimentally into his gate. Was it that simple? The tip of the stake breached his skin, yet when Meiss pulled it from his arm, there was no puncture wound or blood. It just… disappeared. The feeling of the stake passing into his gate was slightly pleasurable, like the tingle in the spine when listening to certain sounds. The blonde dropped the manganese into his scars, shivering as that feeling swept through his forearm.

"Rem thinks that you had no trouble with this. A little slower to learn it than Rem and Nee-sama, but that matters not. Likely your status as a foreign entity to this world."

Meiss smiled a little at this convenience he had been taught. He still wanted to test the limits of it, but should ask questions beforehand lest he stumble into negative effects. Rem suddenly poked her finger into his arm, quite forcefully.

"That better not be a fake smile, Meiss."

Meiss recoiled at her finger jab, that hurt more than it should have. Were all women deceptively strong? Meiss had no problems with it, but if women continued to painfully attack him, there would be a very large problem: The self-isolation of Meiss from the opposite gender.

"It wasn't fake, but it is now because that hurt."

Rem squeezed his arm with a little too much force. OW. Meiss squeaked like a mouse, and Emilia took a break from assaulting Subaru to look at Meiss tenderly holding his arm. Then she gave one last, nothing-held-back pinch to Subarus side. He jumped into the air, relinquishing the seat fully to Emilia, who scooted over to take up the whole thing.

"I don't think I can take another minute of this! Let alone a few hours!"

—

Subaru sat anxiously, a few hours had passed with everyone talking to each other about recent events and telling stories, though Rem didn't have any stories to share. Actually, it was mostly Subaru who was telling the stories. Emilia told a few, which Subaru realised were the children's books he had read to learn the language, and Meiss told even fewer. Now, this was about where Emilia would be knocked out by the barrier.

This barrier was an invisible force-field surrounding Sanctuary, which made anyone who was a half-blood pass out. The interesting quirk though, was that once inside, half-bloods couldn't leave. The only way to destroy the barrier and leave was to complete some ominous Trials. Subaru noticed Rem stray her gaze to Emilia a few times, she looked rather sad.

Wordlessly, he reached out his hands to grab Emilia as she slumped forward. Her head lolled to the side, resting on Subaru's shoulder as he scooted back onto the seat to hold her. He still felt anxious at her crossing of the barrier, and it would be weird if he wasn't worried. Emilia was trapped here now.

Ram hopped over the driver's seat into the carriage. She glanced around until her gaze landed on Emilia. The pink maid shuddered slightly before quietly walking over to inspect the half-elf.

…

Good, nothing else had happened besides the barriers intended effects. Ram didn't like this in particular that much, but she would do anything for Roswaal. Even trapping Emilia inside Sanctuary. Ram felt momentary envy for the book, which seemed to hold so much of her master's attention. She squashed that down though, not dropping her apathetic front.

"There is a barrier of sorts around Sanctuary, it only affects half-bloods like Emilia-sama. Do not worry, she will be fine."

Subaru lifted Emilia off of himself, handing her to Ram, who looked surprised for a second, breaking said apathetic front. He needed to make it to the front of the carriage before-

Then the world flipped in on itself.

Subaru barely registered the flipping before he landed in a crumpled heap on his side. The carriage itself was also now on it's side. Damn, he wasn't fast enough to tell Garfiel they were from Roswaal or with Ram. Subaru sat up in time to see Meiss lurch with Rem in his arms. The blonde scooted away as soon as he saw that the Oni was ok. Looking over, the cursed teen saw Ram lying unconscious with Emilia laying on top of her. Man, this was gonna hit fuzzy boy hard. Subaru groaned, his head spun violently.

"Comin' so boldly face t' face? Pretty brave'a ya, outsiders."

Those words betray the personality behind the speaker perfectly. Being regarded like he was lower than the dirt that they tread upon wasn't on Meiss' to-do list as of now. Meiss sprung out of the back of the carriage, looking around the side to try and spot who said those words. The blonde took a step to get a better view, and felt the ground rise suddenly beneath his feet. He looked down, realising that the first inch or so of ground had been bunched up like a carpet. Moving his foot revealed he had stepped on some ground that was overlapping the normal ground. So this guy could do this? Dangerous.

Meiss perked his ears up when he heard Otto's faint voice. Everyone was still in the carriage recuperating, Meiss' damage nullification had spared him from that, and he was raring to go.

"Oi, quit freakin' out. Sure yeah, yer luck's not good, gettin' caught by th' amazin' Garfiel while tryin' t' sneak in. Ta be honest, ya look as brittle as a-"

A black blur shot into this Garfiel character, Meiss recognised the black scales of Patrasche. The ground dragon flung herself into the petite, blonde boy with her teeth bared. Meiss watched with wide eyes as he reached up and swiped the diana away with one powerful movement.

"Ah, th' sound'a broken bone's just another sigh of love. Yer a good girl."

The boy, who radiated the pride of a lion, quietly flung Patrasche away without much force. He jumped up, at the same time Meiss rounded the corner of the carriage to face him. There, he saw Otto striking a battle pose, yelling something about hoodlums. Just as Garfiel reached the merchant, Meiss flung himself into the air with a long, horizontal jump. Garfiel noticed him out of the corner of his eyes, and jumped away just as Meiss' fist swung through the area he was moments before. Otto jumped back in surprise at Meiss suddenly appearing before him.

"Tch, more th'n I thought there would be."

Meiss squared himself in front of the carriage. He wouldn't make the same mistake he did on the Laifus highway. He would guard against this new threat, not fight it. With his arms covered by his sweater, he allowed dolorem to spread over his skin, and the glowing color spread over his hands with intentional slowness. Garfiel noticed this, and barked a low laugh, clasping his hands together and stretching his arms above him.

"Garf!"

Ram, holding her head, climbed out of the toppled carriage. Garfiel instantly relaxed upon hearing the pink maid, and his expression seemed to soften. _Oh boy._ Meiss turned to face the twin and moved out of the way so that she could see Garfiel.

"We are here on official business regarding the Arlam villagers residing within Sanctuary."

Wow, Meiss huffed at the dangling lock of hair, the impression he had of Ram shifted slightly. He didn't know she could speak with such authority. This was something he would expect from Frederica, not the pink maid of all people. Ram slowly took a few steps towards Garfiel, who closed the distance in less than a second. A few hushed words passed before Garfiel lifted the carriage and righted it. Meiss heard Subaru scream from inside.

Ram looked as if she was debating on whether to tell Garfiel to shake the carriage. She decided not to and lifted her palm from her head. Bright red started to pour down the side of her face. The maid huffed before looking at Meiss.

"Esteemed guest, do you happen to know any healing magic?"

"I would die if I used magic apparently, and no, but Rem has this knowledge."

Ram sighed, and said something under her breath, about how Rem was the only one she could stand. The pink maid climbed back into the carriage, and Meiss heard Rem's uncomfortable voice echo back. Now to deal with the one who is exuding such pressure…

Garfiel stood watching the carriage a while longer, before motioning to walk past Meiss. He stopped beside the alien, scrutinizing him up and down.

"Ya got spunk, my amazin' self'll give ya that."

Meiss opened and closed his hand, and ceased the use of dolorem. The appendage felt cold now. Meiss shot his eyes to Garfiel, whose own eyes reflected Subaru's scariness, but without the extra white around the eyes. _Sanpaku, I think_.

"You got some adrenaline running, mind if we exchange some blows later?"

Meiss needed experience, he had only ever fought the Witch Cult, Hakugei, and Wilhelm in a friendly spar. Quite a low amount of fights under his belt. While he had no desire to nab more fights, Meiss would like to expand his knowledge on reactions and practical things during the exchange of blows.

Garfiel barked another laugh, before flashing him a thumbs-up, canines catching the sunlight. _Those seem longer than natural._ The petite blonde walked confidently to the back of the carriage.

Meiss turned to face the upcoming road, the sun was high in the sky now, despite them departing early in the day. It was around fourteen, or two depending on what you're comfortable with, if Meiss had to guess. This ride had been about eight hours, with less than another quarter hour left if Meiss had to guess since they had already crossed this 'barrier' thing.

Meiss looked at his fist again. That small interaction with Garfiel had cemented something in him. No, maybe it had always been there, just hidden under something; what that something is, Meiss didn't know. If he wanted to make sure everyone could live happily, he needed to become stronger, faster, and not just in body, but in mind. Meiss had already changed so much since being ripped from his world. He used to be small, soft-spoken, forgettable. He used to be the guy who huddled in the corner during gatherings, or followed the one person he knew.

While he still is that guy to a degree, he had grown by living in tragedy. He learned how to be larger, more sure of himself. He learned how to speak louder, and make himself heard. He had learned how to fight out of necessity and vengeance. But he had been unable to protect anyone he cared about. Eura; name eaten, memories eaten, then killed while in a state of frozen being. Rem; name eaten, then forced to suffer and put up a front around the people who should have known her the best. Crusch; memories eaten, forced to blunder through a world of high expectations while trying to emulate her past self. And Meiss; name eaten, ripped from his home, his life, his friends, unable to return and forced to survive in a world that had sworn to kill it's inhabitants with every breath they took.

He wanted to be the one who protected them from the dangers of this world, even if he didn't know of them himself. He wanted to be the one that made people relax when they saw him, to alleviate their fears with his presence, to make the bad things disappear.

Meiss once more looked down the road to their destination.

He wanted to be their **sanctuary?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise to have Regulus snort formaldehyde.


	14. Greed that Surmounts Death

"This place looks rather gloomy."

Meiss surveyed the immediate area. The buildings looked poorly built, with cobbled-together and oddly sized bricks and wood. Some of the houses also seemed to have a slight lean to them, though Meiss wasn't sure. There was a low stone wall bordering the village, remarkably high in quality compared to the houses. The grey brick was cut with smooth sides and sharp corners. It gave the village behind it a more closed-off and isolationist feel. The Oni, Rem, sighed to his side.

"Rem has gotten used to it, with her not infrequent visits here."

Meiss heard this, and expected some sort of comment from Subaru, only to remember he had traveled here before. _We need to have a_ more _serious talk about his Time Reversal._ The blonde turned to look at the japanese teen, who eyed the area like someone who was acquainted with the territory. He kept glancing at Emilia, who was fidgeting and looked generally uncomfortable.

"Welp, we're here, might as well do some introducin'."

Garfiel hopped out of the carriage and landed on the earthy path. He sauntered over to the wall, which was only waist-height. Hopping on top of it, he spun to face the group and carriage, spreading his arms wide. The glint in his eyes was sarcastic, and his sandy hair waved in a slight breeze. His hair was a different shade of yellow, more a sandy, sun colored color as opposed to Meiss' rich golden waves.

"Welcome all, to th' place Roswaal so graciously calls a fuckin' Sanctuary. Otherwise known as th' Witch of Greed's gravesite."

"If it's a gravesite, then gloomy is a given I guess."

The carriage, which creaked slightly now due to Garfiel's manhandling, slowly entered through the gates of the well-preserved wall. Meiss noticed Emilia fidget slightly in her seat, as if uncomfortable. Who wouldn't be? This _is_ supposedly a gravesite after all. Now what Meiss didn't expect, was for the half-elf to cling to Subaru like he was an anchor. Do the dead really freak her out that much?

"Garf, where is Roswaal-sama right now?"

The petite blonde clicked his teeth together, gesturing to a slightly bigger and well kept looking house father down the road.

"Very well, show our driver where he may park his carriage, I will take everyone to meet with Roswaal-sama immediately."

The party lightly hopped from the carriage. Rem seemed to know where she was going, turning to wait for the rest. Emilia stepped down from the carriage, looking around as if trying to spot some creepy dude watching her.

Oh wait, that's Subaru.

The time-looper and the Oni walked confidently towards the less ramshackle looking house. Emilia clung weakly to Subaru's sleeve, who slowed his pace to accommodate her.

"I don't like it here, It feels like I'm being watched."

Subaru responded by holding her hand and giving a light squeeze, before breaking off from the main group. He took a few steps towards the tree line before turning back to face the group. Subaru looked rather guilty for leaving after Emilia's statement, but he broke off nevertheless.

"Sorry to leave you all like this, but I have matters I would rather discuss with Ros-chi alone. No hard feelings?"

"No, not really."

"None whatsoever."

"Kay then, I'll see you guys later."

After Subaru left to who knows where, Emilia sped up and made her way as fast as she could to the house. She must be anxious, and moving fast unconsciously. The half-elf didn't seem to notice the growing distance between her and the duo of Rem and Meiss. The two walked slowly side-by-side.

"Emilia-sama cannot leave."

"What?"

Rem turned to Meiss. Her blue eyes betrayed worry for the half-elf. She was under oath to not speak of the inner-workings of this place. But said oath is no longer binding due to the theft of her name. The Oni is happy to reveal such information if it will benefit her Subaru-kun. Since she learned of the time-reversal though, it stands to reason that Subaru already knew. So the next person besides Emilia to tell would be Meiss.

"The barrier that surrounds Sanctuary prevents half-bloods from leaving the area. Emilia-sama is trapped here until someone conquers the Trials."

"Goddamnit."

That was more like a statement, rather than an outburst.

"So this barrier requires the completion of a trial? Seems like some sort of carnival game to me, rigged to fail..."

Meiss grit his teeth. Was this 'Roswaal L Mathers' the type of person to orchestrate events behind the scenes? Despicable people in his opinion. Pulling the strings of fate and bending events to their will for benefit. _I mean, just let kismet play out normally._ The blonde set his eyes on the house down the road, was this someone to be wary of?

—

"Myyyyyyy oh how haaaaaaappy I am to see everyone safe and sound!"

Meiss already feels his ears beginning to bleed. Next to him, Ram is white as a sheet, taking in the situation and condition of the man before her. He was wrapped in bloody bandages from head-to-toe. Who applied them remains a mystery. The clown is sitting up with the help of pillows behind him.

The house itself was made of rough stone, and comparable in size to a single-story house Beyond the Waterfall. It was significantly more spacious and well-kept than the other houses, despite that, it was rather cramped with so many people.

"Now, just whoooooo are these fine young additions to the party?"

The clown had navy blue hair that flowed down his shoulders. Along with a set of heterochromia iridum that are sky-blue and golden-yellow. Not a pleasant combination. The yellow eye was the only one visible currently, and it glared at Meiss and Rem curiously.

"Hmmmmmmm, fair woman of sky hair… you look rather exhaaauuuuusted. We can find you a bed if you requiiiiiiiiire one."

_Personal image of this guy goes down by the second._

Before they entered the house Rem had asked him to try and hold his tongue, but that barely veiled jab made it hard to. Was it even a jab though? He couldn't possibly know what had happened to Rem, and what may have happened had Meiss not been there. The blonde glanced at the Oni, did she actually look tired?

"R-Roswaal-sama, what… what happened? Who did this?"

Roswaal closed his yellow eye, shutting out the world. He breathed deeply as Ram edged closer to inspect his wounds. He opened his blue eye this time and peered at the maid.

"It is not a question of whooooooooo, but whaaaaaaaaaat?"

"You don't mean... "

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, but it matters not. What Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm more curious about is the fine young gentleman here. Just wheeeeeerrree oh wheeeeeerreee did he come from?"

"Roswaal. That was a serious question that I would also like to have answered. Especially with someone of your... caliber… To get injured like that is no joke."

Stunning everyone with the harshness of her reply is Emilia. Makes sense, ever since stepping foot into this place she has been on edge. Being irritable and abrasive is kind of a given for her right now, despite her usual bubbly personality.

"It appeeeeeeeaaars that even Emilia-sama is not in the best of tempers. Buuuuut considering where we are, there maaaaaay be no avoiding that."

Emilia's brows shoot up as she realizes the harshness of her words and tone. Her tight lips bend into a slight frown as her hands fidget with the hem of her white dress. The half-elf thinks for a moment before drawing in a breath. She puts in an effort to relax her shoulders as the calming sigh leaves her body

"Before this conversation goes in some jumbled direction, what of the villagers from Arlam? Your condition makes me worry for them."

"Feeeeeeaaaar not, the residents of Sanctuary had noooooo part in my injuries. The Arlam villagers are quite unceeeremoniously crammed into the cathedral. Though I believe 'crammed' is an exaaaaaggeratiooon, the building is quite laaarge by Sactuary's standards."

Looking content, Emilia continued with her questioning.

"You call this place 'Sanctuary,' though it feels like anything but. Garfiel called it the 'Witch of Greed's gravesite.' Which is true?"

"Both are true. Something can have two names, no? This is where the Witch of Greed, Echidona, met her end; I personally would call it Sanctuary"

This response was lower in tone, deviating from his uncomical lightheartedness and drawn-out syllables. This change of attitude instills the sense in Meiss that the statement was true. Though…

"Wait wait, Witch of Greed? There's more than the Jealous Witch? Though I guess that would make sense with the seven and nine though…"

Said Meiss as he waved his arms around subtly. This was something alright… The Jealous Witch he knew of, but now there's a Greedy Witch? The next leap is that there is a Prideful Witch, Lazy Witch, Vengeful Witch, Lustful Witch, and a Gluttonous Witch as well. Don't forget the Melancholic Witch and Vanitous Witch.

Wow. Meiss is surprised that it never occurred to him before now.

"Nooooooo records of her existence remain, except for those who knew her personally."

"That implies something impossible, unless you happen to be centuries old. You aren't centuries old, are you? I happen to know a few people who don't have great body-age correlation."

Roswaal barks a laugh. He keeps on laughing, wiping tears away and wincing slightly at the sudden movements he's making. Ram is buzzing around trying to make sure he doesn't laugh to death or something.

"Haaaaah, If your plan was to make me laaaaaauuuugh to death, it's certainly working!"

Meiss realises the man isn't joking, some of the bandages around his chest area appear to have acquired a brighter red tint to them. Ram hovers around more frantically, going into other rooms and looking for bandages.

"No, no. This place and the name of Echidona was paaaaaassssed down through the Mathers family, down through the Roooooswaals for generations."

"Ok then… What is the purpose of this place, and why haven't you and the villagers left yet?"

Roswaal closed his eyes and smiled. His finger reached up to scratch his chin as if he was thinking about something. Ram has returned from her toilet paper crusade with a bundle of bandages.

"Why the villagers and I have not yet returned… Ooooooooone could say we are in a state of confinement. The moment you entered, you wound up in the saaaaaaaaame situation. I have nooooot been attacked by anyone, just to claaaaaaaaarify."

"Then…"

Emilia gestured to the entirety of Roswaal's bandage covered body.

"The reasoning for theeeeeese? Well it isn't that there's nooooooooo relation, but us being confined is not the direeeeeeeeect reason."

Ram had started to examine the areas that Roswaal was injured in with more detail. The bandage bundle was being slowly unwrapped, and the maid continued to look over her master's body to find the best way to remove the bandages. There didn't appear to be any scissors or knives in the many(two) places Ram had searched. Emilia tentatively reached out her hands, before stopping them to let them hover over the bleeding body.

"Have you had any healing magic done?"

"No, as healing is ooooouuuuutside my area of expertise… Demolishing, afflicting, bewildering, but I have not a speeeeeck of recovery."

 _Heh._ So this guy does nothing but offense? Not even the tiniest healing spell? Meiss remembers how he specializes in healing mains when it comes to games.

Wryly, Meiss thinks about his current situation. The role is reversed for him now, Melancholy is a powerhouse of an authority. Pure offense, not a spec of recovery. Unless you count cauterization, but most people wouldn't.

"Then I can… Rem and I can heal you, though it won't be at my usual level since Puck isn't here."

"The Great Spirit isn't here?"

Roswaal looks quizzically at Emilia, like this is a huge surprise. Though it probably was, since the two haven't seen each other in about a week.

"Perhaps that is why you are soooooooo grumpy, though maybe it's because of this place. Spirits do nooooooooot favor this land, so he may have retreated within the crystal to avooooooiiiiiid it."

_Nice, another thing to keep the spirits off my back._

Realistically, the spirits may not enjoy the gloomy atmosphere. Or perhaps the presence of the Witch of Greed's tomb has that effect. So many questions, maybe it's time to accelerate this discussion a bit…

"So… any more information worthy to note? Besides that fact that Emilia cannot leave until it's done."

Ram looks like she has something to say, but a hand from Roswaal silences the words in her throat. Meiss feels the air shift, the tension growing steadily. This guy is a powerful mage, but Acedia doesn't beat down _just_ physical attacks...

"Ram please fetch our dear guest something to drink."

"Water, please."

The maid looks from Meiss to Roswaal for a second, before slowly walking from the house into the sunlight. The door closes behind her, and Meiss' eyes adjust once more to the dim lighting of the house.

"Emilia-sama, I request that you go fetch Garfiel and Subaru-kun, please. I wish to discuss privately with our guests."

This normal voice is unnerving, coming from Roswaal. Just like before, it conveys this aura of truth and succinctness. Emilia feels the tone shift as well. At first she is hesitant to leave the two, and the one unhealed, but she can see the seriousness in Roswaal's eyes. The half-elf backs out of the house, looking over her shoulder once or twice.

Meiss looks to Rem, her eyes shine in the darkness just like his.

"You want to tell him, or should I?"

"By all means, talk away Meiss."

"Roswaal."

"Meiss-san. Interesting name by the way. How were you aware of Emilia-sama's predicament before it was revealed? Furthermore, you hinted to knowledge of the trial. How is that?"

"You see gentle Rem over here? Well she may have worked for you before we had a little run-in with Gluttony."

"Ahh, to be afflicted with Gluttony's authority… Strange, I was not informed of her appearance, but Meiss was expected. Oh, did you enjoooooy my gift of brimstone?"

 _I swear to every religious entity._ Two people with precognition? No wait, Meiss guesses Subaru is doing something else entirely. This guy has precognition? This may be a problem, and that's even without his status as the Lord if this land.

"It was very much enjoyed, thank you. Now… onto more _pressing_ matters."

Meiss pointed at the clown, arm fully extended. Roswaal widened his eyes, possibly expecting an attack since that appendage is aimed at his face and his first impression kind of sucked.

"End this game. The trial is rigged to fail and you have a plot to use someone to your advantage in a series of events planned out beforehand."

"…"

"Not entirely true, the trial is not rigged to fail. I merely foresee that Emilia-sama will have some difficulty with it."

Dolorem slowly spread across Meiss' hand in that slow, threatening manner he used against Garfiel. The clown hadn't challenged Meiss' notion that he was using someone for a hidden agenda or that things have been predetermined. Roswaal's eyes widened when the color and light became visible. Ho? Was this power not foreseen? Well then…

"The chess match may have started but that doesn't mean we've lost yet. I'm confident that my friends and my _Melancholy_ will be able to take your king."

 _Did Roswaal stiffen? Was that my imagination?_ The clown seemed to look shocked for a second, just a second, before that mask of poor comedy shut everything out. The door opened behind them, and Meiss recalled dolorem as fast as he could.

"Meiss-sama, here is your water."

"Ah, thank you. My throat is parched from all the doing-nothing-in-a-carriage I did all day."

_Wow, why does this water taste so good?_

It has a slight earthy tinge to it, yet it isn't coarse or slick because of it. The water is the perfect cold temperature, numbing his throat and shocking his nerves. The essence of good water.

The door opened behind them once more, and Emilia poked her head in without entering fully.

"Um… I couldn't find Subaru, but Garfiel is here now."

"Veeeeeeery well, tell him to show you the waaaaaaaaay to the tomb."

Emilia's face disappeared from the door, and a loud exclamation followed from Garfiel. He grumbled for a bit before seeming to agree. The rambunctious blonde opened the door wide, beckoning for Rem and Meiss to follow.

Meiss turned to the door, and started to walk towards it.

"Meiss-sama."

"I really need to have the honorific talk- Yes, Ram?"

"That foolish Barusu will undoubtedly try to enter the tomb in Emilia-sama's stead. He must not, lest he succumb to the spuriousness of a Witch."

—

Ram closed the door behind the blonde. She couldn't help but feel the same feelings she had when Barusu first arrived at the mansion. He gave the impression of someone who was in a certain place at a certain time. Someone who was lucky.

The pink maid turned to her master. He was the world, there was no room for anyone else. In another life… if she had a sibling perhaps things would be different. But this life is this life, and that life is that life. Ram grabbed the bandages from the bed beside Roswaal-sama and set to work redressing the ones wound around him. She registered the troubled look on her master's face. That must have come from his talk with Meiss and Rem. Ram knew Emilia had left to find Garf, as she saw them talking on her way back to the house. Just what did those three talk about to bring such an unpleasant expression upon Roswaal-sama's face?

Roswaal sat upon his bed restlessly as Ram fiddled and hovered around him. He absentmindedly pet her head, not noticing her face become the same color as her hair. To him right now, it all blended together. Rain started to appear on his window, a light drizzle had just started. The first time it had rained since Subaru arrived.

"Potestas de Tristitia."

"AAAUUUUUGGGGGHGHHGHHGGUUHUUHGH!"

Roswaal writhed in pain, choking on his own blood, bathing in his own blood. He was pinned to the ground, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to fight. Roswaal A Mathers, the pinnacle of magic and sorcery, was being flattened as if it was an afterthought. Rain poured and cascaded around his writhing body, the bullets of water stinging his wounds.

Cold, apathetic eyes churned their gaze into his form. They cared not if he died or lived, merely seeing him as an obstacle to their goal. They approached slowly, lazily, sadly, depressed. The closer those eyes got, the more Roswaal was pushed backwards. His body bounced and crushed, crushed and bounced. Agony. Blazing, glowering, mind-numbing agony pierced every fiber of his being as those eyes strode steadily towards him. Another guttural scream echoed from Roswaal's mouth as his body was pressed further into the ground by the eye's _air of melancholy_.

"Such a racket. Such a bother. So tiresome. So irksome. This drains me, depresses me."

"AAAUUUUuuuuGGhgHIKkikiiiigk, kuuuh... GGGGAAUAAAUAUA!"

"Can't you just stop? You've worked yourself so hard. You can't win against me, but you worked and you worked. Nothing but working, and this has to be enough... Working hard has no point at all."

Through the pain, through the blood clogging his throat and staining his eyes and pooling from every pore...

"Your speech... so idiotic... How could I possibly... give up- AAAAAUUUGGHGH, AAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Huuuuuh... This is what weighs my head most. Nauseates my chest. Dampens my spirits."

Those eyes kneeled in front of Roswaal. They examined their own hand for a second, twitching each finger and watching Roswaal bend in another unnatural shape. Suddenly, the warlock plunged his hand into the ground, watching as a fresh wave of blood poured from Roswaal.

"... I hate this. I really did back off. It's really been so long since I've backed off this much and it's the worst. The worst, the worst, the worst of the worst of the worst of the worst. So… much… _melancholy_."

Roswaal struggled less and less, the blood staining the earth around him was a fatal amount to be removed from the body. Melancholy looked sadly at the mangled form before him, he pensively turned his gaze to the houses of Sanctuary.

Roswaal took a deep breath. He could still see those eyes even after all these years… Now though, there was this new face. Roswaal was not informed of his particular quirk.

Ram was undoing a bandage on his upper arm. He winced as the raw skin met with the cold air, though nothing could compare to that _air of melancholy_. The clown narrowed his eyes, picturing the slicked-back blonde hair, the black padded vest, and the orange-cyan glowing hand.

 _This_ boy _will_ not _obstruct my goals._

—

"I was wondering when you guys would make it."

Subaru stood at the entrance to a high iron fence with a stone bottom. The iron was rusted in patches, but mostly unblemished, and the stone was exactly like the wall of bricks surrounding the village. Atop the fence, spaced at regular intervals, were small unlit torches. The same unlit torches adorned a large building in the center of the space cordoned off by the fence. It looked like a large box, with one doorway that hid in shadows. The roof was flat for the first foot or so, before the stone rose and fell in jagged cliffs. There may be a picture on top of the tomb, but nobody was tall enough to see.

"Well what about the trees surrounding the tomb?" you may be asking. Answer: The Witch of Greed's miasma circulated around this place. It had no ill effects if you entered for a short, or even long, amount of time. But for the grasses and trees and foliage, being there their whole lives was impossible. As a result, there was a barren scar of wasteland surrounding the tomb for upwards of fifteen feet.

Well anyways, Subaru is there and he greets everyone warmly, though Meiss catches him scanning the treeline once or twice. He seems to be wary. Garfiel clicks his tongue at Subaru knowing where the tomb is before being escorted to it. That suspicion may be a problem in the future along with Roswaal.

The alien crossed his arms and looked at Meiss out of the corner of his eyes.

"Huh, Important people really like having large graves. Doesn't matter what the time period or world is I guess."

"Uhm. Garfiel, what exactly are we here for?"

"Wha? Grrrrrrrr, so th'sonovabitch hasn't told ya anythin'? Well ya can grill'em later, for now, jus' step inside th' fence."

Emilia looks even more worried, but steels herself up. Meiss is also worried. It is expected that Emilia will enter the tomb, but since Meiss just announced he would try his hardest to fuck up Roswaal's plans, Emilia must not enter the tomb. Meiss notices that Subaru doesn't look concerned for Emilia. So this must not pose a threat…

But screwing with Roswaal is more important.

"Ah, sorry about this, guys."

As Subaru argues with Garfiel about going to find Otto or something. Meiss steps through the opening in the fence. Just a quick lo-

—

Subaru holds his head in his hands with a bored expression. He is currently sitting in a wooden chair overseeing the sleeping Meiss. Emilia is sharing the chair with him, but was barely sitting on her seat, you would be more accurate to say she was wall-sitting. Subaru was hogging the rest.

They are currently in a ramshackle wooden cabin. Garfiel carried the unconscious boy here after he collapsed in front of the tomb. _I mean come on. Meiss isn't stupid, so why would he do that?_ No answers came to mind. Maybe something happened in the talk with Roswaal thay had.

Speaking of, the point that Subaru returned to after dying was before they had departed to Sanctuary. His reasoning for branching off immediately was to check if he still had the qualifications. He did, and ended up loitering around the grave until the party made their way over. Rem had given him the gist of their talk after Meiss fainted. Subaru still couldn't believe Meiss had the balls to threaten _Roswaal_ of all people. The guy eradicated a forest full of wolgarm by himself, he was not someone to be taken lightly in terms of power. Emilia was the one to pull Meiss out of the grave's courtyard.

The half-elf finally huffed angrily, shoving Subaru over and plopping down in the chair. She smiled contentedly at her secured sitting space, though she nearly jumped off in terror when…

"Stupid fucking Windows XP Witch!"

Then Meiss fell off the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is impossible to talk about Echidona without at least mentioning the Bliss wallpaper.


	15. Inside the Tomb

Dark, inky, devoid of light, so black Meiss can't tell if his eyes are open. His breathing was ragged and uneven as he swung his arms around wildly, looking for some sort of wall, for anything to hold. As soon as his hands roughly brushed the chiseled stone of an unseen wall, he called forth the cold heat to envelope his arms. Dim light illuminated smooth grey bricks in front of him. He looked side-to-side, darkness down each direction. His hand was held upwards, depressing grey stone was overhead. Meiss swung one arm out, Acedia bursting forth to it's maximum distance of seven meters, twenty-two feet. It met nothing. There was stone to one side, under him, and above him.

Where was he? All he remembered was his foot crossing the threshold of the fence, it hadn't even touched the ground before he was swept here. God it feels so cold here… but the temperature is quite warm. Meiss absentmindedly fiddled with the miniscule cracks in the wall.

"I stepped over the fence's threshold and got swallowed by darkness. The tomb itself isn't close enough that I could have fallen inside, not to mention that someone would have pulled me out. No, this must be an illusion, a dream to repel those the tomb deems unfit for it or something."

An illusion, it has to be. Meiss turned to face the wall, resting both hands flat-palmed against it. Meiss had no experience with breaking out of illusions, so the outcome of someone snapping him out of it was likely. On the other hand, this may be the type of thing where he wouldn't wake up until he found the exit. The blonde grimaced, smacking the wall in frustration. This gave way to an idea.

Meiss didn't know the upper limits of Acedia's temperature, just knowing that it got _really freaking hot_. Hot enough to lightsaber it's way through flesh, with only the carbon leftover. With the newly-found atomic applications of spirit magic, which was abstract compared to the hard magic system of fire, water, earth, air, yin, and yang, he could find an approximate temperature with pure elements. Meiss shook his head, that was something to be done when nothing was happening.

Meiss drew one hand from the wall, making his hand flat in a karate-chop position with fingers pointing at the stone. The Dolorem already active seemed to grow and lengthen, as a single wire of Acedia slowly reached for the wall. To his relief, the stone cracked when the heat was introduced suddenly, before starting to glow and bubble. It took a few seconds, but Adecia was able to make it through the stone. The hot wire retracted into his body, and Meiss peered through the hole in the brick.

"I see, a thinker we have here. With a leash on his primal emotions, even if it isn't as strong as it could be."

Meiss' breath hitched in his throat as the voice echoed from inside his head, behind him, from the hole, from everywhere. Meiss spun in a search for the voice, only to find dappled torchlight scarring his dark-adjusted eyes. W-were those _purple_ torches? The blonde rubbed his eyes to calm the sudden change of light, opening them to see that the torches are in fact burning purple. _Potassium Chloride_ is what flits through his mind as he takes in the rest of the surroundings. Meiss is now within a narrow hallway, with barely enough room to stretch out both arms. It was as if the missing wall had been suddenly added. His hands could easily brush the ceiling if he jumped, and for someone taller they wouldn't need to jump probably. The air is gritty, and Meiss gets the unpleasant feeling of breathing in exhaled cigarette smoke, but cleaner, if that makes sense. Down the hallway…

"Heh, Sorry that this welcome turned somewhat into a scare. I didn't plan for that, but haplessly am I a creature of greed. It's nigh impossible to escape the thirst for knowledge."

Meiss breathed in a calming breath, as his eyes take in the form of a woman in her late teens or possibly early twenties. _She's monochrome, can't be healthy._ Stupid, this is another world, people have blue hair naturally, she's probably completely fine.

"By the dragon, you do think a lot."

The woman smiled, her waist-length hair is so white it looks as if it could actually be clear. Her clothing is black, making her hair pop. Conversely, it could be seen as her hair making the dark dress pop. Her eyes are a pitch black, so dark that Meiss can't figure out where the pupil starts or ends. But the feeling Meiss feels most of all…

Is fear.

The boy can barely keep his fight-or-flight reaction in check, and it's weird that the response he's getting is flight. Normally, he would fight, but the sheer _pressure_ this woman exerts by merely standing is not any small amount. Comparable to the nigh-impervious Regulus, or perhaps Crush before her memories were taken. It wasn't the animalistic sense of pressure he got from facing the Hakugei either, this was cold, calculating, and shocked Meiss to the core.

"Oh excuse me. I haven't introduced myself yet, though since you intruded I would like to know your name first. Though it's probably better if I give my name since you may still be shaken by what just happened."

The woman flicks her hair and puts her hands on her hips.

"I am Echidona-"

"Witch of Greed."

"What gall to interrupt a witch!"

Meiss shrugs, hopefully nonchalantly, and puts his own hands to his hips. Dolorem is still active. He closes his eyes and raises one foot onto the toes.

"I know surprisingly little about this world, Greed."

"Hm, even more unexpected. Someone from beyond the cascade? Do share with me."

The witch lightly claps her hands together, before sitting down on a white painted chair. Wait, _chair_? There's a white table too, with an albino umbrella anchored to it. Meiss spins around, finding himself in a world of blue skies and rolling hills; it uncannily resembles the Bliss wallpaper. He spins around one more time before plopping down on one of the four remaining chairs. Echidona is sitting across from him, fingers laced and head resting atop them.

"Sooooo… I'm guessing this was for more comfort? Not really doing it for me but ok, I'll bite."

Meiss looks at the steaming cup of tea atop the table. One for him, one for the witch. A flaw in her plan though, is that Meiss isn't thirsty because he got water from Ram. Ha.

"I'll tell you something about my world, or you can lift it from my mind I guess, and you answer a question. Fair trade?”

"Sure, got any questions?"

"Hmmmm, I don't know…"

"...Seriously?"

"No I'm messing with you. Is this an illusion or dream?"

"Dream; tell me to, and I'll wake you up. How different fundamentally is this world to yours?"

"My world has no magic, except in stories and fairytales, and there are no demihumans. You are either human or animal, no inbetween. If this is a dream, then you aren't really here; so where are you?"

"Oh I'm dead, I don't know how long I have been though. What do you use to compensate for the void created by the lack of magic?"

"We use ordinary tools and machinery, which are things that run on electricity. Electricity being what lightning is made out of. I forgot you were dead, stupid question. Anyways, how did you die?"

"The Witch of Envy, Satella, killed me. Despise her with my entire being. How advanced are these 'machines?'"

"Advanced enough that a device in the palm of your hand can contain more than a couple hundred library's worth of books. Was this before or after she ate half your world?"

"Bitch did WHAT!?"

Echidona slammed her hands on the table, rattling her tea and spilling some of Meiss'. Her white face gained a red tinge of anger as she fumed loudly. She blinked hard, putting a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.

"So you died after, which means you've been dead for at least four hundred years."

The witch sat back down with a huff, hated in her eyes. She lightly bounced her foot for a few seconds before flitting her eyes back to Meiss.

"I need some time to think, care to meet the other witches?"

"Wha-"

Meiss blinks forcefully as Echidona simply disappears. The blonde stands up, his chair sliding across the short grass. He looks around, and notices a little girl, around nine years old, seated on one of the other chairs, right next to him. Brows creased, Meiss sits back down and rests his chin on his hand.

"Well hello there small child, I'm Meiss. Which Witch do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

The child, shoulder length green hair and tan skin, swings her legs in her chair. The white dress she's wearing flaps about in the faint breeze and she adjusts a headband with fake blue flowers on it. The witch seems to register Meiss for the first time a few seconds after he asks his question.

"Heeeeeyyyyyy, what're ya lookin' at?"

"Uh… You. Which Witch are you?"

"Oohhh… Well that's all ya had to say! Typhon's the Witch of Pride!"

Typhon hops off her chair and does a show of presenting herself with a little twirl. She climbs back onto the chair and rests her elbow on the armrest, in turn resting her chin on her hand.

"Ok then, I already introduced myself but, I'm Meiss. Nice to meet you."

The blonde reached out his hand to shake Typhon's, who had flipped over to bend her back over the armrest. Her head hung over the side of the chair as she grasped Meiss' hand in a weird handshake.

"Hmmmm. Then you're... Lamb. You ain't a baddie Lamb, are you?"

"Uh, it depends on what you think is bad. Bob might think that fighting is bad, and then I'm bad because I've fought people; but I don't think I'm bad because I fight people that hurt my friends."

"Huh? That's too long and doesn't make any sense."

"That makes perfect sen-"

"Welp, jus' to check."

**「** **SINSCOSTNOTHINGBUTPAINALONEATONED** **」**

The tiny witch tugged at Meiss' arm. A few seconds passed before her brows furrowed, as if expecting something to happen. She tugged harder, righting herself in the chair to put more strength into it. Eventually she got off the chair and tried to pull him off his by the arm.

"Hey! Hey hey hey! Lamb! Why isn't it working? Lamb!?"

"...You really think I wouldn't be wary?"

"Huh? Y-you are a baddie! You're a meanie meanie meanie baddie baddie baddie! Stooooooop iiiiiiiiiiiit Laaaaaaaaaammb!"

The little girl starts to throw a tantrum because her authority seems to not be working. Not like Meiss isn't going to be careful when dealing with somebody called a witch. Even if it is a little girl, which is precisely the reason. Children are _mean_.

Typhon eventually gives up, resigning herself to crossing her arms and pouting. Meiss feels kinda bad, but these people could be dangerous. He rubs his face to try and remedy the guilt. Not really working.

"I don' like you Lamb, you stink!"

" _Haaa_ Noooow just whooo's stinking? _Huuu_."

Meiss doesn't even move his hands from his face, refusing to look up. From that sentence alone he can tell this person would rather be sleeping.

"God, I'm not even halfway through sixteen… Why is there so much stress?"

" _Huuu_ I agree, sooo can we skip me? _Haaa_."

"Yeah, sure. You'd be doing me a big favor, person who I'm guessing is Sloth."

As he feels the depressive aura disappear, Meiss finally looks up. Across the table, in one of the chairs next to Echidona’s, is a petite blonde girl in a blue mini-skirt with a white overcoat. She looks to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. The witch leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms under her large bosom. _I wonder if it's rude to ask if those cause back problems._

"Hey, why so glum?"

"Oh thank god! The first witch I think I can have a normal conversation with!"

"What?"

"Well, you aren't a little kid or exude extreme amounts of apathy. So in my book you're at the very top right now… Oh, and Echidona creeps me out, so there."

This harsh critique of her peers sent the witch into a fit of laughter. She slammed her fist into the table, knocking over Meiss' tea and leaving a _dent_. Poor table. The witch wiped away a tear and straightened herself. Despite her tsundere-esque appearance, she gives off the vibe of someone who is outgoing and fun. Albeit a little air-headed maybe.

"I'm Meiss, nice to meet you."

Meiss once more reached out his hand to shake the hand of a witch. Quite a bold move by many people's standards. The woman reached across the table and grasped his hand in a tight handshake. Up, down, then she turned his hand over to inspect it. Not finding what she's looking for, she releases his hand.

"Minerva, Witch of Wrath. My name isn’t important.”

“...”

“Little kid you said… You still have all your limbs right? Do you still have your legs?"

Minerva looked under the table, confirming his legs still being there. She rights herself and looks at him with a quizzical expression.

"Missing limbs? Is that what Typhon does?!"

"Yup, if it hurts you're bad, if it doesn't then you're good."

"Oh…"

"..."

"This buzzing in my neck is annoying, what do you have?"

Minerva reached behind herself to rub the nape of her neck. She crossed her legs, leaning back in her seat once more. Meiss took a look at the spilled tea before relaxing in his chair as well.

"Potestas de Tristitia; the Authority of Melancholy would be my answer."

"Huh, so that creep must've died. He was pretty scary even without his authority."

"Creep?"

"The first guy to have Melancholy was Hector. Despite his overwhelming power he was just a human, with a human's lifespan. Creep died of old age probably."

"Huh…"

Without it really needing to, the information stuck itself to Meiss' brain. He scratched his neck before reaching out to pick up the knocked-over teacup. Minerva watched him pick up the cup and then place it back down how it was supposed to be.

"I see your expecting something bad to happen. What can I do to help make sure people don’t get hurt?"

Minerva leaned forward in her chair.

Meiss also leaned forward in his chair, propping his arm on the table and resting his cheek on it. The blonde noticed that dolorem was still active, and recalled it promptly. No weapons at the table was common courtesy, even if this was another world.

"Then, how about the trial's content? I know that it must be overcome in order to free Sanctuary."

"That place is still kicking? Gah, that means I've lost a bet. No matter, the trial is tailor made to each specific person so I couldn't tell you."

Meiss furrowed his brows, that barely helped at all. He leaned deeper into the table, mulling over things that could happen. Garfiel didn't particularly seem to enjoy Subaru's presence, and Roswaal couldn't be trusted. With what he heard of Ram and learned of from interactions with her, she couldn't be trusted in full either because of her devotion to the clown. Meiss hadn't met any of Sanctuary's populus; nor the Arlam evacuees. He was a completely new person that nobody could trust yet, secrets were not going to be shared with him.

Minerva watched him brood from across the table, occasionally fiddling with her long ponytail. She glanced at the spilled tea on the table.

"It's hard to keep up with you, that mind of yours goes a mile a minute."

 _Forgot that they can read my mind._ Minerva nodded to his mental note before tilting her head to the side, as if listening to something. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Echidona says she's ready to come back, if you've got any last questions, ask away."

"I recently contributed to the extinction of an animal called the Hakugei, are there any beasts on a similar caliber or reknown? Part two, can somebody have more than one authority?"

Knowing if there were any more big monsters would be nice information, and the part about authorities was just pure curiosity.

"The Hakugei… You can blame Daphne for that cursed monstrosity. Anyways, if that's dead, then there are only two witchbeasts that can cause as much pain. The Ousagi, rabbits with insatiable hunger that split after feeding enough, and the Kurohebi, a giant snake that inflicts a thousand curses upon those who are unlucky enough to touch it. As for the second question, I have no idea. You have an affinity for Wrath, I could tell when I shook your hand, but I'm guessing my authority already has a user."

"..."

"Yeah probably, and those witchbeasts… are terrifying."

"Good to know."

Echidona’s voice popped out at Meiss from the seat next to Minerva's. He turned his head a little to the left to face the bleached figure. The Witch of Greed was still visibly angry, but had calmed down. Just a teensy bit.

"You look like you could use some time, so I would like to wake up please."

Echidona huffed, before waving her hand. Meiss felt a shock flow through his body, as if he had been plunged into cold water then thrown into a sauna. It felt weird, which was expected of such a feeling.

"On top of the information Minerva gave you, access to the trial isn't free, what will you pay with?"

"Hey! I didn't ask for the trial! But I'll take it. As for what I'm going to pay with… That's up to you, provided you stay outside the realm of memory tampering. Too much of that has happened to people around me."

Greed humphed as she began to run over options in her head. No memory tampering didn't leave many options...

"I'll take this."

Suddenly, one of Meiss' manganese flechettes appeared in her hand. Meiss' eyes widened as she grabbed the metal from the air. It took a second for the blonde to register that she had poofed it into her grasp, but when that klicked, he sprang across the table. The teacups flew away as Meiss reached for the metal. That element was hard to obtain, atomic magic was hardly understood and took a great deal of energy, so Meiss could barely afford for any of the spikes to be taken.

" _HEY_! That was hard to get, you stupid fucking windows XP witch!"

Before he made it halfway across the table, harsh sunlight blasted his eyes. The air tasted slightly different and the breeze disappeared. The next thing that happened was the feeling of tumbling off a ledge, and the subsequent spike of pain that followed his head hitting the ground.

Meiss stayed in that position for a few seconds before opening his eyes. He registered Emilia with a hand to her chest, seemingly shocked. Subaru was there too, surprised and not as shocked as the half-elf. The blonde groaned before the rest of his body slid off the bed.

 _Wonder if that spike is really gone, Echidona_ did _say that was a dream._ Meiss flipped his body, landing on his back. Emilia was offering her hand to him, which he clasped to pull himself up. The boy tapped his head, that may leave a small bump later. He looked at Subaru and Emilia, then to the area he was in.

Shabby wooden house, one of the many he had seen upon entering Sanctuary perhaps. No room left for the imagination.

"Windows… Ex Pea?"

Emilia asked this question, and Subaru answered because Meiss was pulling the flechettes out of his gate and laying them on the bed.

"It's a thing from beyond the waterfall, a computer program."

Emilia did not inquire further, seemingly mulling over the word computer.

Meiss' hand hovered over his gate. He was willing with his entire being, yet the tenth spike never reappeared. Stupid witch.

"Well, I got some questions answered by Echidona and Minerva. Despite that loss, everything is more or less good."

Now, the only thing to worry about would be the trial, and whatever Subaru had been attacked by before he rewound time. Meiss looked at the cursed boy, two years older than him. Eighteen. Rewinding time was Meiss’ best guess at his power, and Subaru doing so to find the best optimal route for those he cared about was a lot of stress for one person who was so young. Not even mentioning the other quirks that may or may not be a result of being from beyond the waterfall. Vaguely, Meiss wondered about Subaru before he was zapped to this world, but that was overridden by the more prevalent question.

What had attacked Subaru right before he possibly rewound time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such a different mental view of Minerva before her anime debut


	16. Meiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my least-favorite chapter, mostly because I could have written Meiss’ past better imo. I’m tempted to rewrite it right now, but I said I would send out all the chapters today and I will.

"While you were out, I had a little talk with Ros-chi. The Arlam villagers are going to be leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow."

The two were near a stream in the woods. Dappled sunlight and the sound of rushing water was all around them. Meiss nodded in response to Subaru's statement, it seemed like people were starting to get to business. Though Meiss had a question for the japanese teen.

"Are you going with them, Subaru?"

"No, Roswaal wants to keep me here. It's under the guise that Emilia-tan'd get lonely without me. While that does make my heart flutter, I would have really liked it if I could have gone with them. He gave you the all clear to return to the mansion though."

That made zero sense to Meiss. He had barely _one_ conversation with the head of the house, Meiss had even threatened him, and he was clear to not only leave before he was evaluated but to also stay at the mansion? This didn't sit well with the blonde. Meiss wouldn't do anything, but Roswaal had no way to know for sure.

_Unless…_

No, that was a dark road to go down. There was enough distrust between him and the clown already. No need to sow any more. Precognition was a pain, but it was that throbbing kinda pain you got used to. Meiss wasn't about to try and despair about some creepy dude knowing his every move. Precognition… That reminded Meiss he wanted to talk with Subaru about his rewinding.

"Hey, Subaru."

The boy had been walking away, but turned back to face the blonde.

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you about something."

Subaru turned to face him fully, he began walking back to the stream. His shoes squelched into a puddle of mud.

"What exactly happened before you had to use your power? What do you even call it?”

Subaru’s face scrunched as he scratched at his chest, exactly like the time outside Crusch's mansion before the Hakugei. Seems like Meiss wouldn't get an answerwithout some pressing. The blonde waved it off before continuing.

"Back to why I called you. What happened that made you need to use it?”

"Uh…"

Subaru did a quick glance around, looking for something. Suddenly, Subaru spread his arms out as if he was offering himself as a sacrifice. Quickly, but not quietly, though not loudly either, he spoke.

"Roswaaldidn'tletmeleaveandItookthetrialandtheOusagiattackedSanctuary!"

"..."

"Wut?"

Meiss heard him, something about Subaru taking the trial and the Ousagi. That must mean Subaru talked to Echidona too? The blonde wasn't about to delve into that right now, so he let it slip. He was mostly worried about the Ousagi. What was that going to be doing here? Meiss considered pressing further, but decided against it. If Subaru was that scared to mumble things like that, then it was probably for the best he didn't press it any more than he already had.

The teen lowered his arms, he looked to be expecting a blow, but was left looking lost when it never came. Peculiar. Was Subaru, in fact, a masochist? Meiss giggled at the thought before sobering, but maybe he was…

Meiss giggled some more, stupefying Subaru.

"Are we done? That was an extreme display of courage for me and I would really like to see Emilia-tan and Rem's faces to make me feel better."

They concluded the talk and walked back to the village from the stream. Emilia was going to take the trial tonight, and needed some hyping up probably. Minerva said the trial was tailor made for each challenger, so they couldn't really tell her to do good at any one thing.

But what Meiss was certain of, was that it would be hard. With her lineage and appearance, she undoubtedly was on the receiving end of no small amount of hatred and prejudice.

Elf racism was a term Meiss thought he'd ever think of or experience. The notion of alternate fantasy worlds was usually that they were a cleaner, refined version of medieval Earth. While that certainly was true, politics, poverty, cripples, racial dislike, and people sick in the mind usually weren't included in such worlds. They mainly followed the protagonist on his journey to fame and glory, not focusing on the gritty in the slightest. If Meiss had one thing to say about this world, it was _gritty_. People here were just as critical as they were on the other side of the waterfall, sometimes more so.

—

Crisp, cold nighttime air greeted the small party as they mulled on the barren earth around the tomb. Emilia was in a little group with Subaru and Rem, who were talking to her about how good she'd do on the trial and such. Ram was talking with Otto about something, and Garfiel was there with a short pink-haired girl that Meiss had learned was Lewes. Apparently she talked with Subaru before Meiss woke up. _Just how long was I talking with the witches?_

"Well…"

Meiss jumped, thinking someone had heard his thoughts. No, only Subaru, he was talking about how it being dark was probably good enough for the tomb to start the trial. Meiss wondered if the darkness really was the trigger, or if it was on a timer. If it was sensitive to light, they could probably just hang a really big blanket over it to take it during the day.

Emilia took a step forward, then another. She breathed in, steeling her resolve, then walked confidently inside the iron fence, towards the giant block of stone and the imposing doorless doorway. As soon as her toes crossed the threshold of the fence, the unlit torches flared to life, bathing the waiting party in purple light. Emilia didn't stop to look back, she didn't stop at all. The half-elf walked confidently on until darkness swallowed her up.

…

…

…

 _Ok, It's been about fifteen minutes._ They didn't know how long it would take, or if there was a set time at all. The only information they had was that the trial was tailor made to the challenger. Useful, but not useful enough for Meiss' liking.

Suddenly, the torches sputtered out without warning. They flickered back on for a few seconds before shutting back off. They continued to sporadically turn off and on.

"Hey! Let me through!"

"You believe my amazin' self'll let you in with that stink?"

Meiss snapped his head around to see Garfiel holding Subaru back. The teen was trying to climb over him to get into the tomb. _Worried about Emilia, so am I. We don't know if the flickering torches are normal… Well, I know I won't explode if I go in there…_

Meiss thought it over for a second. It may be stupid to go in there again, Ram held no reserves in giving him dirty looks after he woke up. Garfiel liked the blonde much more than Subaru, so maybe he would let Meiss go in. He wasn't sure, anything could happen. For all he knows, Meiss may end up taking the trial alongside Emilia and get them both stuck in there. Meiss rubbed his forehead in indecision.

"I'll go."

Subaru stopped struggling to look at the blonde. Garfiel looked at him as well, his grip slackening on Subaru.

"Now jus' hol'on-"

"I'll go, If it's a matter of bursting Stagno's got me covered, and Indifferentia's active all the time."

Meiss stepped over the threshold.

Garfiel let go of Subaru to yank Meiss back, only to stop when he realized the torches stopped flickering when the blonde crossed the threshold. He snapped out of that stupor too late, for Meiss was already halfway to the tomb.

Meiss registered the shocked gazes of everyone behind him, not caring at all. He knew they wouldn't come in after him. With the blessing of the witch he was able to enter and exit the tomb on a whim. At night though, his access to the trial wouldn't go unnoticed.

The blonde hesitated at the door to the tomb proper. He remembered his time with the witches, and the stone tunnel. Meiss stepped into the darkness and it swallowed him greedily.

—

The tunnel was longer than it looked from the outside, and it was cold. Meiss held his arms against himself and stuffed his hands in his vest pockets. The tunnel was way warmer when he talked with Echidona, but it was a dream then, not reality. There was a corner ahead that Meiss almost hit because it was so dark. Thankfully, a room on the other side of the corner had more purple torchlight spilling forth, allowing Meiss to save himself from the bump. The blonde turned to the side, facing the torchlight.

"Emilia?"

The half-elf was spread out on the floor of the room. She shook every few seconds and was slick with sweat. Tears ran down her sleeping face, which was taut in an expression of grief and worry.

Meiss took a step towards her, but hesitated.

_What's the conditions for two people with qualifications? Do we both take the trial, or can one person at a time take it?_

In the end, Meiss ran forward towards the half-elf in a nightmare.

**「** **Your Immutable Past** **」**

"Wha-"

It was like a whisper from all directions into his ears. Meiss flinched, registering it before he felt himself careening towards the ground. It was like his motor functions had halted, and he could do nothing to brace himself. The blonde registered himself hitting the ground, yet continuing to fall.

—

Meiss found himself breathing heavily as coldness encased his entire body. He rubbed his arms to stave off the cold, wishing that he would've grabbed his actual winter coat instead of the puffer vest and light sweater. God it was _snowing_ out. At least he had the mind to grab his gloves, which were doing some good work.

He walked on a sidewalk with snow packed down by the shoe prints of other people. Some spots were packed down so much that the areas were slippery. A car sluggishly drove past, not daring to go fast on the unplowed road.

 _Only two more blocks until I reach Connor's house._ The kid was a year younger than Meiss, but in the same grade at school. Round face behind a pair of rectangular glasses, and auburn hair so dark it was almost black. See it in sunlight and it looked like dried blood. Anyways, Connor was a smart guy like Meiss, and was one of The blonde's few good friends.

Meiss used a hand to hold down his golden hair, it was flapping wildly in the freezing wind and stinging his face. He turned a corner, closing his eyes and sighing in relief when it seemed to warm up. He kept his eyes closed for a few seconds more. _Ok, is it just me or is it unnaturally hot for the weather right now?_ Meiss opened his eyes.

A world unlike his own greeted him.

—

**Five Days Later**

—

_Knock knock._

"I'm closer, I'll get it Eura!"

Meiss saw the red haired woman poke her head out from behind a corner. She would probably come with him to the door anyways. The blonde stood up from the table where he was practicing this world's written language and made his way over to the door. As expected, Eura walked over as well to peer over his shoulder as he opened the door.

What greeted him was a scraggly and disheveled boy with long brown hair and a dirt colored cloak. He was holding two books, one of which was open and being read. Upon the opening of the door he shut the book and looked up.

"My my my, what have we here? Short and blonde, the gospel details your significance to the witch."

Meiss furrowed his brows. Witch? The Jealous Witch? This guy was crazy. Meiss glanced over his shoulder to see Eura's reaction. The blonde was met with horror and hatred, and a little fear. Unbecoming of the usual chipper personality that Eura had.

"Hmmm hmmmm hmmmm, red hair… Unimportant to the writ."

The boy reached forward and around Meiss, trying to touch Eura. The woman flinched away and started to back up. The boy was grinning madly.

"Yo, what the hell man?"

Meiss angrily shoved at the boy, who dodged and twirled around Meiss to be inside the house. He lightly hopped and skipped around, getting closer to Eura.

"My my, your existence truly tickles my tastebuds! It looks so tasty!"

Eura backed away from the crazed boy, only for her back to hit a wall. The boy was advancing on her, twirling his hands about. Meiss sprang over and threw himself at the boy, sending him stumbling into a wall. There was a loud thud, and the inkwell Meiss was using fell off the table. The boy rose slowly, rubbing his shoulder where he hit the wall.

"Ooooooh, your devotion will make her taste even better! For now though… you need to lie down."

The boy sprang at Meiss so fast that his eyes had trouble registering it. Meiss put up his arms to defend himself before he was sent flying. Up, over the table and onto the ground next to the fireplace. The blonde heard Eura shout, and the familiar twinkling sound of water magic.

"El Huma!"

The wooden floors creaked as ice shot up from below them. The solid shapes of spikes missed their target as the boy jumped closer to Eura. Meiss raised his torso off the ground with his arms and turned just in time to see Eura crumple to the ground with a hoarse cry. The boy was licking one of his hands, and giggling quietly to himself. He took a glance at Meiss, before tossing a book to him and making for the exit.

"Al Huma."

Eura was propping herself up with one hand, the other outstretched to cast Al Huma. Meiss noticed her eyes beginning to water as she looked at him, though he didn't understand why. The boy looked at the wall of ice blocking his exit, before turning around to glare at the redhead. He was met with Meiss, who had grabbed a fire poker from the fireplace. The blonde thrusted out, sinking the metal into the boy. The point tore through the boy's cloak, but failed to pierce flesh. Meiss tried to withdraw the poker, only for a crisp blow to be struck against his head.

Meiss collided with the ground, stars dancing in his eyes. The poker flew from his hands, out of reach. The boy was leisurely walking over to the prone Eura. Meiss screamed at himself internally, why was his body so sluggish! Move. Movemove _MOVE!_

Meiss brought himself to a crouching position and threw himself at the boy again, but this time the glint of metal greeted him. The blonde yelled out as lancing pain erupted down his left arm, which he had used to guard himself against the blade. He hit the ground hard next to Eura, flipping over to be on his knees again. He held his arm, which had blood streaming down it from the long gash in the forearm. _Owowowowowowowowow_ _It's not spraying out, which means he didn't cut any veins I think. Holy fuck shit owowOWOWOW!!_

The boy looked at Meiss curiously, as if him protecting the girl was interesting. Meiss tried to move his injured arm. _Upper arm has no problems, my forearm… I can barely spread open my hand._ Thinking like this distracted Meiss from panicking because of the boy before him. This guy could murder them as an afterthought.

Without any warning, the boy sprung into action. The glint of metal erupted from both of his arms as he rushed at Meiss. The blonde reacted by raising his forearm as a shield. The strikes after the first few hurt less and less, and Meiss reacted less and less as well. He had gone from flinching away and screaming his agony, to grunting as metal tore open his ruined arm. _Thanks… Adrenaline… Thank you…_

Only a few seconds had passed, and the boy stood there silently as he drove his blades into Meiss' arm one last time. He didn't remove them, instead closing the small distance and grabbing Meiss' wrist. He yanked the blonde up, earning a startled cry, before throwing him away. The boy's eyes regained their wild gleam and his mouth salivated as he looked at Eura.

"F-fu…la…!"

The second that word was said, splitting agony bust from every pore of Meiss' body. It was like someone was rubbing the rough part of velcro across his body with unparalleled vigor and strength. There was also this glassy feeling that had Meiss scared to even cry out in pain, as if his body would shatter upon the slightest movement. Then…

_Crack!_

Like cracking a joint, or the sudden release of a held breath, the pain dissipated. Along with it was a pressure Meiss hadn't even noticed. A bent blade of wind whistled through the air towards the boy, who turned to face it too late. Blood sprayed out behind the attacker as the wind blade cut through his shoulder, leaving a gash that cut to the bone. Because Meiss had never had proper magic training, the force of the blade wasn't as strong as it could have been. With proper training, that would have severed the arm. Nevertheless, the wind blade was strong enough to incapacitate the boy's arm.

The attacker recoiled, reaching a hand to his shoulder, before rethinking his action.

"Not as tasty, not worthwhile, of lower quality, poor ingredients, but the tiring effect is the same."

Instead, he licked his hand that had grasped Meiss' wrist.

Hitched breath, Meiss felt his strength plummet. The arm that was holding him up ceased to function, and he hit the ground once more. It didn't hurt, instead it was like the energy required to run three marathons was simply removed. The blonde's breath came fast and shallow as he tried to regain his energy. There was a hoarse shout, and then sunlight burst into his vision as the roof of the building was torn off. Meiss looked up to see a large spike of ice, ten-ish meters if he had to guess, soar away with the roof and part of the wall. The attacking boy wailed as he was flung outside. Eura was next to him suddenly, with her hands hovering over his forearm. Blue light bathed the injured appendage and flesh began to knit together. It felt rather itchy.

"Eu...ra?"

"Shh, stay still stranger, I'll have ya fixed up soon."

Halfway through healing, Eura looked up and jumped away. The boy appeared in her place, nearly stepping on Meiss before he jumped away again. The blonde tried his best, but whatever the boy did to him had sapped so much of his strength that it was hard to keep his eyes open. Also, Eura's choice of words. _Stranger?_

Meiss sluggishly tried to move his arms. _Gotta… get up._ They responded to instruction, but painfully slow and weak. It was a miracle that Eura had recovered so quickly. Spikes of ice and drops of blood swirled above him as he shakily clawed his way over to a chair and onto his feet. Meiss registered the boy twirling around Eura, who dodged his attacks barely. The boy increased the speed of his leaping and spinning, catching Eura off-guard. Her face, contorted in anger, fear, and desperation, gained a glimmer of smugness.

"Ql huma!"

In this world, there are two types of magic that can be cast. Spirit and elemental magic. Spirit magic is abstract, and if one has the mana capacity and imagination, almost anything is possible. The complete opposite of this is elemental magic, a system of hard magic that governs the four elements. Water, earth, fire, and wind; there is also light and dark, represented by yang and yin respectively. Within elemental magic, there are several prefixes that change the power of the magic cast. They start with the base chant, a single word. In order to increase the power, one of several prefixes are attached to the word, these are El, Ul, Al, and Ql, in ascending order of strength. El is the main form of attack, with Ul being stronger attacks, Al tended to be a short area-of-effect attack, while Ql was a long lasting AOE attack. There are some variations, but this is the general pattern.

Ql huma…

A blast of freezing air erupted from the form of Eura. This sent Meiss flying, shocking his nerves. He heard the still intact windows crack because of the sudden drop in temperature. The blonde hit a wall, sliding down it and forcing his eyes open a crack to see what had happened. He saw Eura with her arms spread up, and to Meiss' utter disbelief, the boy was holding on to one of her arms. Meiss tried to yell out, but the ice-cold wind shocked his vocal cords, and all that was released was a small squeak.

Eura couldn't feel the hand clasping her arm until it was too late. The effects of Ql huma besides the blast still affected the user, so the biting cold numbed her skin, making her unable to feel anything. The weight of the boy though, brought her arm down prematurely. Eura tried to yank her arm away to no avail. The boy thrust forward with his blade, piercing her breast and skewering her lung. Meiss heard the audible release of air from Eura's lung as the boy retracted his blade, licking his opposite hand. Eura collapsed to the ground, not even trying to stop her fall.

The boy savored the taste of his hand for a moment, before rubbing his body as if in immense pleasure. He danced around Eura before standing over her head.

"Oops."

The boy dropped one of his blades, the bloodstained metal sinking into Eura's neck.

Time seemed to stand still for Meiss. In slow motion he registered his eyes widening in shock, the quickening of his pulse, the pounding of his head. There was something else too, a feeling of having cogs out of place in a machine. With one simple adjustment, the machine would start working. Meiss had to make that adjustment though, and the feeling of that much power was intimidating.

Meiss' eyes flitted over the form of the boy. That boy had killed Eura upon a whim... Squalor ratshit like him deserved to pay for their actions. The blonde's decision was already made. His grief was firm and resolute.

He pushed the cog into pace.

At once, a mixture of grief, anguish, and wrath escaped his lips as the world faded to red. Meiss can barely recall what happened after that. Only remembering that the boy fled when faced with Meiss' grief. It was kind of like falling asleep, with Meiss awakening kneeling next to Eura's body. Destruction was the only thing visible for at least fifteen meters. All the fruit of Meiss.

 _Nothing like this should happen to anyone. Nothing like this_ will _happen to anyone, if I can do anything to stop it. I resolved to become a light in the darkness for others, for my melancholy to become a sanctuary. I don’t want to let go of them... and reliving this… It hurts, but only reaffirms this goal. Nothing like what happened to Eura will happen to my friends. For Rem and Crusch, I'll do anything in my power to right that fault._

…

"So, is this it?"

Voice shaky, filled with emotion, Meiss addresses the witch.

"Yup, and if I'm being honest that was a lot faster than I thought."

Hand on her hip, the Witch of Greed slowly walks from the treeline. Her white hair painfully reflects the sun, and Meiss thinks she may already be getting a sunburn because her skin is so fair.

"The trial is over."

"The trial is over? So that's it then…"

Meiss reaches his hand over Eura's face, closing her eyes. The blonde reminisces about the coming week and two days before he will meet Subaru and Rem atop that sun-soaked platform. His life from now until then was filled with such anger and grief, masked with only a thin shell. The death of Gluttony relieved Meiss of most of that anger and grief, allowing him to move on. Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent what happened to Rem and Crusch, and as a result has been acting more self-critical of himself. So self-critical it could be called self-depreciative, not even mentioning the past that comes up to haunt him every once in a while.

The blonde gets overly anxious, has trouble sleeping, feels so much guilt… All these things stemming from the experiences with Ley and the Witch Cult. Meiss spends the next week in stagnation, pursuing something out of pure revenge and hatred. He really needs to thank Subaru and Rem someday for lifting him from that.

"Heh. So what now? Do I just poof awake?"

"Yeah, unless you have any questions…?"

Meiss shuts his eyes, scanning his brain for a proper question. Concerning the trial…

"Is this the end? Is Sanctuary free?"

"No, after this there are two more trials, this one was your past, so the next ones are your present and future."

"Damn."

Meiss finally rises, taking a look at the destruction around him. Eura's little house in the woods has been destroyed, and further scorched by Meiss' authority. Barely anything remains of the building the two had stayed in. Tomorrow, Meiss would bury Eura and set out on his path of revenge.

The world is fading.

Meiss clicks his tongue, before turning to face Echidona. The two lock eyes for a moment as the world fades to only them. A smile dances across the witch's face as darkness covers Meiss' vision.

—

Waking, Meiss tries to draw in breath, only to hack out his lungs. Thick dust had settled in his mouth, and the blonde spits it up. Sitting up, Meiss feels blood rush down his face from his forehead. He must've hit the ground hard. He struggles to his feet, wiping away a lingering tear as he remembers why he ran into the tomb in the first place.

"Emilia."

Holding his head, which had begun to throb, Meiss made his way over to the half-elf. She was still in the nightmare, still struggling with her past. It may have been easier for Meiss to overcome his trial because he had already resolved himself, but the blonde didn't know if anything like that had happened to Emilia. He kneeled down next to her sleeping form, lightly touching her shoulder.

"Suu… ba… Meiss?"

Meiss chuckled lightly, moving his hand under her head to lift her into a sitting position.

"I won't tell him you said that. Heh."

Emilia didn't protest or resist as he lifted her bridal-style. It was quite weird and awkward, since Emilia was taller than him. The blonde carried her out of the room and into the tunnel, where he let her down onto her feet.

"Can you walk?"

Emilia weakly nodded, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. It hurt Meiss to see her this weak and uncertain, yet still pushing on despite being at a limit of sorts. Emilia looked back to see if he was following, and Meiss jogged to catch up to her. Side-by-side, the two walked out of the tomb and into the moonlight.


	17. Fangs of Sanctuary

Black smoke curled around and through her. This was her curse, her blessing. The smoke, _miasma_ , exuded from her body and bathed her in darkness. Left stagnant for over four centuries, the mist was so thick as to induce claustrophobia. She would have it no other way.

"I really am becoming more lenient."

Their voices rang out in her head. The second one, Aldebaran, and the third one, her beloved. The first was long-dead, and she had mostly tuned out Aldebaran by now, focusing only on the thoughts and experiences of her beloved. She saw what he saw, felt what he felt, and hurt when he hurt. She had to, because then she wouldn't know when to use Envy in favor of her beloved. Quite the selfish authority, Envy is.

To disregard reality and substitute it with another, to be so jealous as to mould fate in it's favor. It really was selfish. All for her beloved.

"Don't hurt…"

She could feel him, he was hurting. He hurt constantly and it hurt her. Don't hurt. Don't hurt. Don't hurt. Don't hurt don't hurt don't hurt don't hurt don't hurtdon'thurtdon'thurtdon'thurtdon'thurtdon'thurtdon'thurt.

"Ah."

It seems like her time is almost up. The other one is about to take over for a while. She pushed her hand through the purling smoke, trying to grasp it and hang on to her wavering sanity. No good. No good. No good no good no go-

She pressed her hands to her temples, trying to subdue the other half. She opened her eyes again, staring into the unending darkness. There was a way to lessen her beloved's burden. Envy was made for more than one person. That was how she had been bringing her beloved back with her. That was why he had her touch, but not an authority. Yet. She mulled over the decision in her head. The other one wasn't touched by her, some other power had brought him over. She would need some sort of catalyst in order to connect with him.

—

"…I still don't understand why I'm clear to leave."

Speaking to himself, Meiss looked at the line of carriages ahead, all of these are returning to Arlam village and their cargo is the Arlam villagers. Meiss could see the anticipation in the people's faces for their return home. To Meiss' understanding, they had been cooped up in a church for about a week and a half and were eager to return home. There were even paid merchants here that had gotten wrapped up in this mess.

Arlam village…

Meiss had caught a glimpse of the village when they were coming from Crusch's mansion. He hadn't made any trips down there in the short time he had stayed at the Roswaal mansion and didn't have any relation to them. Subaru on the other hand seemed to have a strong relationship with the villagers, one that left him as a sort of "plug'' that held back negative responses. Without him, the Arlam villagers probably would have done something about their conditions by now. Roswaal injuring himself was put in the same situation as Subaru, but his relations were less favorable and that charade would only work for so long.

"Tch, the clown wants me to leave. That means I'm staying. Has he foreseen that?"

As always, precognition would be a huge pain. Especially when the parties involved had less than ideal views of the other. Well, Meiss had no idea how Roswaal felt about him, but it was clear to see that Meiss didn't favor the clown.

"Hey Meiss! The carriages are all set, pick one!"

Subaru came up to the thinking Meiss, Emilia was trailing close behind him. The half-elf had been sticking close to his side ever since the trial. When she wasn't next to him she was in her room. _She's hiding her unsightly side from everyone, except for maybe Subaru when they're in private. It's easier to see that when you've done that yourself_. Meiss crossed his arms as the teen and the half-elf drew closer.

"Subaru, mind talking for a second?"

Subaru froze his hand mid-wave. _Well, most of our private talks have been about his Redo's, so I guess that response makes sense._

"It's not about _it_ ; it's about me leaving."

"Oh, sure talk away."

Meiss slackened his arms, so that each forearm was held by each of his hands. He ran a finger over his scars, the tissue tingling slightly as his sweater rubbed against the skin.

"…I don't like how Roswaal is sending me away. The entire reason I came was because you used _it_ , so I don't feel comfortable leaving yet."

 _Redo_ … Subaru and Meiss had agreed to refer to the Redo vaguely, for Subaru feared the repercussions. Besides the stopped heart, Meiss had no idea what those repercussions were, and as such had no idea if they could be evaded.

"So you're saying you don't want to leave then. Roswaal ordered it though."

Meiss nodded, glancing at Emilia. She had been silent throughout the short conversation, ever since the end of their individual trials he hadn't heard a peep from the half-elf. If her past was that bad then It would make sense to retreat inside oneself for a time. That length of time for Emilia was unknown. Being half-elf, she had probably lived longer than most people here, which means more prejudice. The fact that she had ventured out was probably to wish the villagers a safe return to their home.

"I… Safe travels… Meiss."

Meiss met Emilia's eyes. Those purple irises didn't seem to reflect the usual amount of warmth. _She's putting up this front just to say goodbye…_ Meiss smiled, hoping that it looked warm and gentle, before shaking the half-elf's hand.

"Thanks, I've had a lot of fun here so far and I hope to continue that trend in the future."

Meiss retracted his hand after the short exchange. His gaze met Subaru's, and Meiss mouthed the words 'I'm sneaking back in," to the teen. Subaru looked pumped for a few seconds, then he left with Emilia, the two holding hands. Meiss watched their backs as they left the carriages. It was nice.

But Meiss also felt conflicted.

 _Am I watching a polygamy in the making?_ It was no question how Rem felt for Subaru, the two had even snacked on eachother's faces. Emilia was a little different though. Meiss wasn't sure how she felt about Subaru, if he was a good friend or more. The half-elf was definitely a little envious of Rem and Subaru's closeness, but whether or not that's because she had feelings was unknown to Meiss.

_Well at least she didn't hurt me when we shook hands._

—

Forest blurred together as they traveled past. Birdsong rang through the trees and was distorted by the sound of rushing air. The occasional bump in the road was barely felt. Sitting on the bed of a carriage was Meiss and Subaru

"How are we going to do this?"

Meiss asked this question, which was directed at Subaru. How would Meiss return to Sanctuary? The two were in the last carriage on the returning villagers convoy. As for what allowed the carriages to be considered as such…

"What'cha talkin' 'bout?"

"Ah, Subaru and I were merely talking about water. So, we have ten grams of H2O, and we want to count the exact number of Hydrogen at-"

"Stop stop, ok ok! By th' Dragon yer givin' me a headache."

Garfiel, who was not breaking a sweat despite running alongside the carriages, was guiding them outside of the forest. He would drop by every now and then to check up on everybody by going up and down the line of carriages.

Subaru was going to ride the carriages until they met with the barrier, then he would get out and hoof it back to Sanctuary along with Garfiel. Meiss had to get out of the carriage sometime before they left the forest, he just didn't know when. Sighing, Meiss thought of Emilia and how shaken she was after taking the trial. The blonde was sure she would burst into tears at any second when they were walking down the tomb's corridor. She certainly looked like she was about to. If anything, Meiss had to go back and take the trial in Emilia's stead. He didn't know how much of her past she could take. That was in conjunction with the Ousagi, which Subaru said would attack. Meiss had no idea when it would attack, but just that it would. The blonde hadn't wanted to press it further, he felt that just knowing the information was risky.

"Why don't you just come back with me?"

There was that option, but the problem would be Garfiel. The slim guy had kept an upbeat attitude with them around others, but Meiss knew he didn't favor Subaru. Garfiel was also probably pissed that Meiss ran into the tomb without permission. _Now that I think about it, it may be best to go back with those two, to make sure Garfiel doesn't try anything._

…

_Oh, the carriages are stopping._

Meiss leaned his head out the side of the carriage. The wind gently tousled his hair as it hung from the side of his head. The blonde could see the small form of Garfiel walking back along the road, towards them. It didn't take that long for him to reach the back, where Subaru and Meiss were.

"Here's about where most'v you guys part with my amazin' self."

Garfiel brought his hands to his sides in a superhero pose as Subaru and Meiss got off the carriage. Garfiel glanced at Meiss questioningly before turning to face the other carriages. The guy waved his hand to signal them to continue on and slowly but surely, the carriages drove on towards Arlam village. Garfiel stood motionless for a second as Subaru mounted the de-carriaged Patrasche. Meiss climbed onto the black dragon behind Subaru, shifting himself to have both legs hanging off one side.

"It's 'bout time we start heading back, no?"

Garfiel uncrossed his arms, turning to face the two mounted aliens. His face, his entire demeanor had changed. Now there was nothing but anger, some pretty potent anger. He barely looked at the two as he stomped past. A few seconds of silence passed before the petite blonde barked at them to get a move on.

—

The chitter of bugs, the swaying of the trees, the crunch of the earth under paw and foot. All of it seemed too loud for Meiss. Garfiel had matched his stride with Patrache to be next to her as she ran. From Sanctuary to the barrier would take about twenty minutes by carriage. Now that Patrache was unhindered with such a thing it should take about fifteen minutes at most. Meiss couldn't ignore the hostile aura coming from Garfiel, and had switched the side his legs were hanging from to face him.

"So, why th' hell're you comin' with, Blondie? Heard Roswaal sent ya back."

"He's not my boss or lord, the clown has no sway when it comes to my decisions."

"Tch, why're you gettin' involved with affairs that ya don't need ta?"

"You're right, why am I getting involved? Such a good question... shame the answer is a trade secret, so I'm not telling you."

Garfiel clicked his tongue again when his question was evaded. Subaru looked back at the two with a sheepish grin.

"Hey hey~, your passive-aggressiveness is scaring Patrache, so could you dial it waaaaay back please?"

Patrache snorted as if to say _I'm not scared, you're scared._ She was right. The pressure that Garfiel and Meiss are exuding from their simple conversation is making cold sweat run down Subaru's back. It wasn't quite on the level of the Hakugei or Echidona and the other witches, but was similar to that one time when Al asked about Ram in the capital. It was scary.

"An' this guy, comparin' my feelin's 'tween you two's like the two sides'v an Oiranguma, 's like night'n day. As a matter of fact… why don' I just do everyone's noses a favor?"

Garfiel's hand shot out towards Subaru, who flinched too late. He was only saved by Meiss, who grabbed Garfiel's wrist just barely in time. Patrache jumped away, growling at Garfiel and baring her fangs. Subaru's eyes were wide, and his hand traveled up to his neck. The teen could see blood when he checked his hand.

"What the hell!"

Meiss waved his hand at Garfiel as the pressure exploded. Garfiel was clearly enraged now, with no reserves. He stalked towards the pair of aliens like a lion with hackles raised. Patrache stopped her growling when Meiss started to get off of her to confront Garfiel.

"M-MEISS! YAMERU! Let's just run back to Sanctuary!"

Subaru, blood running down the side of his neck where Garfiel's hand had grazed him, gripped the reigns so hard his knuckles were white. Garfiel's eyes widened as Meiss hurriedly climbed back onto the jet-black dragon. The blonde was still hanging off the side of Patrache when she started to sprint towards Sanctuary.

"GUURRAAHHH! GET BACK HERE, MY AMAZIN' SELF AIN'T DONE WITH YA!"

Garfiel stomped the ground, sending a chunk of earth flying towards the mounted pair. Meiss and Patrache both reacted at the same time. The ground dragon veered left while Meiss spread his hand with the intent to use acedia. The boulder of loose earth hit the ground where they just were. Another was sent towards the fleeing aliens. This time, Meiss acted alone in saving them. Hand still raised, three ductile acedia flowed from Meiss' forearm and wrapped around the earth. Meiss swiped his arm to the side, sending the boulder careening into the woods.

Garfiel faltered in his stride for a second, the appearance of acedia was a surprise to him. His composure was regained lightning fast, and he gained speed. He was a little faster than Patrache, and caught up to them after half a minute. Jumping, Garfiel reached out to try and grab anything, Meiss, the saddle, Patrache's tail. The boy put a little more force into his jump than necessary, and ended up reaching for the saddle. His outstretched hand widened as it neared Patrache, only for Meiss to intercept.

"WRYYAHH!"

The blonde's arm, with the advanced form of dolorem active, seemed to buff up slightly. It's been a while since he used it, but he was careless during the Hakugei hunt. Instead of incapacitating his dominant arm, Meiss used his left arm to deliver the punch. The blonde's hand sailed cleanly through Garfiel's hand. The boy howled in pain before hitting the ground and rolling. Righting himself, Garfiel looked at his hand. The fingers hung lifelessly out of their sockets and from their tendons, which were exposed underneath his frayed and ripped skin.

"Gurrrrr…"

Garfiel rose to his feet, he tenderly held his hand in the other. Blue light enveloped his mangled hand as he watched the blondie and the witch boy ride off towards Sanctuary. Garfiel glanced at his hand, he was by no means the best healer, but he was above average. Tendons had been knitted together, bones placed back in their sockets, and the skin was about half-healed.

"Hmph, good 'nough."

—

Breathing heavy, Subaru and Meiss burst through the gates of Sanctuary and almost collided with Ram. The pink maid skillfully dodged the sprinting Patrache before looking at the two aliens with disdain.

"I thought Roswaal-sama requested the return of our guest to the mansion. Barusu, why has he returned with you? Also, where is Garf?"

"GIT BACK 'ERE YA BASTARDS!"

"Move Patrache! MOVE!"

Ram watched as the black dragon sprinted off towards the middle of Sanctuary. Looking back, she thought she could see Garfiel angrily sprinting towards the gates of Sanctuary. What the hell happened? When Garfiel neared, Ram stepped into the middle of the gate, intending to stop him. Garfiel took one glance at her and jumped over the pink maid, hitting the ground and continuing to run.

"God god god, what're we going to do!"

The frantic Subaru looked back at Meiss, who was watching behind them. Subaru took a glance over the blonde's shoulder and nearly pissed himself. Garfiel was running full speed towards them. He was shouting too, that was also scary. Subaru turned back around to spare himself the image and tightened his already tight grip on Patrache's reigns. The teen trusted the black dragon to know what she was doing so left navigation to her.

…

He started to rethink that when it seemed like they were heading for Roswaal's hut.

"Subaru? Why are we heading to Roswaal?!"

"I don't know! Patrache is just running that way!"

"Maybe we'll just pass it on the way to Emi- OH SONOFABITCH!"

Subaru heard Meiss yell behind him as dirt slammed into his back, sending him flying from Patrache. With a quite girly scream, Subaru slammed into the ground awkwardly and pain exploded up his leg. It took a second for his brain to catch up to registering that pain, but when that came it took everything Subaru had to not scream as loud as he would have. _Fuck fuck fuck! Why is he attacking us? God damn it why?_ Flipping over, the teen saw Meiss pulling himself out from under a slab of earth. The blonde's left arm hung at his side, the clothes smoldering and blackened. He snapped to attention as another boulder sailed towards Subaru.

"ACEDIA!"

Once more, three ductile wires snaked from Meiss' body and wrapped around the earth, guiding its trajectory away from Subaru. The japanese teen looked at the display and the intimidating form of Garfiel, who slowly approached. _Damn, I need to get out of here. If I stay I'll just be a burden, a body to worry about._ Subaru tried to bring himself to his feet, only to find the source of his leg pain. Both lower leg bones punctured his skin and a few inches of them were visible, along with his bent thigh, which he couldn't even move. Upon seeing this horror, Subaru fell to the ground again, clutching his leg with one arm, screaming, and using his other arm to try and claw himself away from everything.

 _Hurts it hurts it hurts so much why did he do that it hurts it hurts oh god oh shit it hurts it hurts._ Subaru could only think of getting out of there, of letting Meiss and Garfiel duke it out. He couldn't do anything here. Dimly, Subaru felt the gazes of Sanctuary's residents on him, but they did nothing. Sanctuary's people had known Garfiel for years, he was the strongest among them and also the most caring. They couldn't understand why this was happening.

"You an' yer surprises, you ain't a match for my amazin' self, the Fangs'v Sanctuary!"

"High and mighty eh? If theatrics is how you want to do this then you'll be sourly disappointed in me."

"Think ya can fight 'n protect him as well?"

"That's something I'm willing to bet on."

Subaru, leaking his life juices all over the place, heard this exchange as he crawled towards Roswaal's hut. If he had to choose he would rather go to Emilia and Rem, but Roswaal was closer. Subaru was pretty sure Roswaal would defend him, even in his weakened and hurt state. If not physically, then his word as lord should bide him some time to get out of here. Where was Patrache? She should have picked him up to run away ages ago. That she hadn't already done that drove a wrench in Subaru's heart. She hadn't done it, which means she couldn't do it. Subaru closed his eyes and continued to crawl.

_CRACK!_

Subaru flinched as the ground shook next to him. He looked over to see Garfiel slamming a slab of earth into Meiss, who took the brunt of the attack unscathed. His arm still hung at his side, and wiggled around slightly as he moved. Garfiel stomped the ground, and like a sea-saw, the ground rose up and flung Meiss into the air. Rivers of light exploded from the blonde and dissected a hunk of earth that was thrown his way. Garfiel himself jumped up to meet Meiss in the air, throwing out a punch that the blonde couldn't evade. Meiss flexed his burned arm activating buff dolorem, and swung the appendage into Garfiel's fist. Once more Garfiel's hand was shredded, but this didn't stop him as he struck out with his other arm. Meiss couldn't block or intercept as he was still mid-swing. Just before Garfiel's arm collided with Meiss' chest, _it grew longer._

"Wha…"

Subaru watched as Garfiel's arm grew longer and wider, and grew _fur_. A lion's leg and paw, nearly four times larger than the actual thing and adorned in sandy-blonde fur, collided with Meiss and sent him flying. The blonde sailed towards Roswaal's house, he slammed into the stone wall and it broke apart. Meiss recovered quickly, reaching his hand out and using acedia to rope Subaru into the building. Subaru yelled in pain as his leg was jerked suddenly. Meiss brought him into the building, but kept him in the air for a second as he looked for a place to put him.

"Ah, Suuuubaru-kun and Meiss-san?"

The two aliens simultaneously glanced at the bandaged Roswaal, then back at the hole in the wall, waiting for Garfiel to appear. Once more in unison, the two aliens slowly drew their gaze to Roswaal's sitting form, which was propped up by pillows. Or rather, not to Roswaal, but what he was _reading._

"Oh, it seems like I was foooouuund out. Well, nothing I can do about that, we've already deviated."

Roswaal placed his black tome on the bed and closed his eyes peacefully, as if giving up. Meiss lowered Subaru, staring at the black book intensely. The clown seemed so nonchalant about it all. Meiss was so surprised that he wasn't even angry. Yet.

"Roswaal… Why do you-"

Then there was gritty darkness. Gasping, Meiss tried to inhale, only for his mouth to take in dirt. Coughing, hacking, and spitting, Meiss tried to remove the dirt. _Shit shit, I can't breathe!_ Meiss tried to wiggle, the pressure of holding his breath mounting. He could stand holding his breath for about thirty seconds, maybe a minute if he really had to. Not that much time when digging through earth. Meiss had his pack pinned to the wall, he tried to push off of it once more and failed. _The tomb!_ Meiss thought of how he cut through the stone with acedia in Echidona’s dream. Sweating now, Meiss sent out every acedia he could muster. The seven burning rivers slammed against the stone, and slowly but surely, Meiss felt the brick melt. _Not good enough! Faster, FASTER!_ In panic mode now, Meiss felt one of the acedias break through into strikingly cold air. He put all his effort into that one spot, it was just below his head.

"...Mpgh... guhg, fuggmph. GAHH!"

Breathing heavy, Meiss felt the back of his neck sink into molten rock. The blonde rested for a moment, happy to be breathing. Air, glorious air. _Garfiel must have thrown this, it slammed into me like a semi-truck. Semi-truck…_ Meiss came to the realization that he had only survived because of stagno. The blonde's throat closed up, making his efforts for air seem useless to him. _Subaru's dead… Does he need to consciously activate redo? Did we screw up? It's useless now… the bastard Garfiel was still there, I should ha-_

"Meiss?"

Opening his eyes, Meiss saw the upside down forms of Rem and Emilia. The oni was looking at him curiously, and the half-elf was looking around. _Oh… god… What do I say to them?_ Meiss' throat still wasn't working, so he couldn't say anything regardless. The blonde resumed the use of acedia, wincing as his burnt body moved. When there was a hole big enough, Meiss brought his singed arms to the wall and pulled himself out, not making any effort to land on his feet or knees. He just crumpled unceremoniously. Meiss layed there for a second, feeling Emilia and Rem trying to lift him to his feet.

"Meiss, we heard a commotion. What happened? Where's Subaru-kun?"

"Rem… He- we… Garfiel attacked us, so we ran back here."

Emilia looked at Meiss intensely for a second, before the color drained from her face. Rem saw this, and seemed to realize it too.

"Garfiel… He k-killed Subaru?"

Meiss let his head loll. This was confirmation for them.

Emilia and Meiss didn't even notice the ground a few yards away be split by wind magic. Rem did though, and peeked around the building. She saw Garfiel with the entirety of his ancestral return active. The gigantic blonde lion, with sinewy muscles and a flowing golden mane, swiped at Rem's sister.

"N-nee-sama?"

Meiss turned his head to Rem, who was peeking around the building. The oni suddenly dropped to the ground, silently crying. The blonde was holding an equally as teary Emilia, who he slowly guided to Rem. The half-elf sat down against the wall next to Rem, who retreated from watching to sit next to Emilia. Meiss looked at the two briefly, before looking at the groove in the earth created by Ram.

"There's… something I have to do…"

Meiss tried to move his burnt arms. Like the rest of him they hurt like hell, but like the rest of him they were usable. Sighing, Meiss felt his grief beginning to hit him harder.

_Why was I so slow. Why didn't I put a bubble around Subaru to begin with? Why did Garfiel attack? Why did he? What had we done to warrant that?_

Stepping out from the shelter of Roswaal's hut, Meiss stared down the golden lion. With that arm… This must be Garfiel. Meiss saw a polished stick stuck in the beast's flank. Someone was able to stab it. Meiss scanned the area, looking for anyone that could have done that. What he saw was a piece of cloth floating in the wind. Meiss recognised the frilly white and black cloth of Roswaal's maid uniforms. So it was Ram…

_How many is this guy going to kill? How many?!_

Meiss started to stalk towards the beast. Golden mane flowing, the lion turned to face him, letting loose a guttural roar.

**_"昴λ—!"_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BeastGarf vs Meiss isn’t happening since Subaru is already dead. Reee


	18. N̸̛̦̣͚͍̯͖̤͊̓̋̂̓͜ͅǫ̵̳̳͔̘̪̍̉̃̃̂̿̽̕ẃ̨̛̰͖̤̮̫̣͙͍̈́̽̅͛͋̓ Y̸̪̙̱̝̯͕͖̥͐̐͜͠ȍ̴͖̭̀͑̕̚͢ų̴̠̞͓̞̮͍̦̬̏̄̉̅̚͠ R̸̢̖͖̠̣̞̳͔̟͆̒̋̑̒̀͒̉͝ę̰͚̀̍̋̃͗̀̉̑͠m̷͚̞͐͂̋͑͜͡e̸̢̛͉̣̙̱̱͕̩̩͋͑m̶̢̮̪̤̜̰͌́̂͋͊̀͞b̵̜̦̰͇͇̀͌͢͝e̸̛̖̮͍̘̾̋͛͊̋̊̚͜ŕ̢͎̜͎͒̒̂͛̈͊͠

His fragmented bones reconstruct, his flattened organs bounce back into shape, his spilled blood collects within his body, and his skin knits together to seal the liquid in.

"Guuhuhuhh…"

Subaru shudders as this unpleasant feeling passes over him. Heat and touch return to him as he feels the stinging of pain no longer. Smooth skin rubs against him as he shakes, his mind not yet having rebooted. Meaningless sounds escape his lips as he falls.

Crushed. That's new.

"Oi, what th' hell?"

The support that has been holding him up slackened in the wake of his shuddering. The arms gently lower him to the ground.

_Why?_

Questions without clear answers. He had been sliced, stabbed, mauled, frozen, sliced again, frozen again, eaten and crushed. None of that is on his mind as his arms flail about weakly, looking for something to hold on to.

_Why?_

Someone he trusted, even if only slightly, had revealed something horrible. The book, the cult, the book is from the cult, the cult gifts the book to those with _love_. Roswaal has a gospel, he's affiliated with the cult, he let Emilia die, let Rem die, let Ram die, let the Arlam villagers die, let everyone die.

_Why?_

Subaru struggles for an answer and finds none. His arm swings about as his mind convulses. Not even aware of the hands struggling to hold him down, not even aware of the worried gazes drilling into his flesh.

His finger grazes the ground past the iron fence.

 **「** **You have once more gained the qualifications.** **」**

—

Gasping awake, Meiss instantly regrets his sudden intake of air as dirt and dust clamors for a spot in his throat. Throughout the trial thick dust had settled in his mouth, now Meiss spits and hacks it up. The blonde rolls over onto his back and sits up. His forehead burns and cool liquid runs down his face.

_I must've hit the ground hard, my forehead's bleeding._

Meiss shakily climbed to his feet. Reliving his past hurt, but all it did was reaffirm his desire. The blonde accepted his past and moved on. Hand to his bleeding forehead, Meiss turned to where Emilia was suffering through her past. The image of the pained girl flitting through his mind.

Shadow.

Meiss makes a weird sound as his eyes take in the flowing, constantly rippling mass of anti-light. The blob takes up half of the room. It's weird to define something as rippling when it is so dark that it appears flat, but that is what Meiss sees. He takes a tentative step towards the writhing mass, not sure why that is there in place of Emilia.

The shadow takes a sudden leap forward.

Scrambling away, Meiss ends up hitting the opposite wall of the tomb's trial room. The shadow jumps again before closing the distance between it and Meiss. Sweat pooling, Meiss stares into darkness of the darkest dark. The shadow spreads along the ground, along the wall, the ceiling, closing in on him, ready to consume him. Unconsciously, to defend himself, he activates dolorem in his arms. The darkness around his exposed hands recedes.

"Huh?"

Meiss waves his hands through the rippling darkness. Like a receding wave the shadows are pulled back. Seemingly growing agitated, the shadow ripples violently before rushing down the tomb's hallway. Meiss watches it go, unable to do anything because one cannot grasp darkness.

"It's… heading outside!"

Meiss breaks out into a run, chasing the shadows out of the tomb. The shadows are fast, especially with that head start. Meiss hops awkwardly as he takes his shoes and socks off, discarding them in the corridor. Breaking out into moonlight, Meiss stops dead in his tracks. He can't see anything. A heavy shadow covers every surface, bringing the world to darkness. It had only been a few seconds, but everything was consumed. Or did this happen while he took the trial?

Dimly, Meiss is aware of his glowing feet pushing back the darkness. He steps closer to where the iron fence surrounding the tomb would be. Nobody that was here before he took the trial is here presently. Meiss looks around, his eyes straining to focus on something, _anything_.

There, flying between the trees.

Meiss spots Garfiel jumping between trees around Sanctuary. Subaru is clinging to his back piggy-back style. Meiss squints, there is a spot that is the darkest dark, with lighter shadows stemming from it. It looked like it was the same blob of shadow Meiss saw in the tomb. It was following them. Meiss takes another step, then another, and another, and he crosses the iron fence. Leaping into the air, Meiss covers a large distance that would have taken him several seconds on foot in a half-second. Using this as the fastest method of travel, Meiss tries to close the distance. Garfiel is faster and lighter though, even with his package.

Instead of heading for Garfiel, Meiss switches his focus to the darkest shadows following them. The writhing black was significantly slower, about as fast as the average person's sprint. Slow in comparison to Garfiel and Meiss. Reaching the treeline, Meiss opts to transition to running, for the tree branches and leaves obstruct his leaps. Despite being reduced to running, Meiss is faster than the average person even without dolorem active. His stride leaves bright patches of green in his wake.

Garfiel seems to notice the appearance of Meiss, and begins circling around back to him. He doubles back on himself, forcing the darkest dark to stop and change direction. With a clear collision course, Meiss gets a frontal view of the deepest shadows. What nearly trips him up is the fact that he can see a faint outline of a _body_. Meiss notices what would be the head of the body is tilted up, focused solely on the retreating forms of Garfiel and Subaru. Meiss feels his lungs start to burn as he pushes himself to go faster. Recollecting Garfiel's ability to overturn earth, Meiss dives into the ground and slides. Sprouting from him are two acedias, the light-bearing wires spinning around his body and ridding the ground of darkness in a fourteen meter diameter. Immediately after the forty-five feet of ground become visible, Garfiel drops from the trees.

"GUURRRAAAA!"

A ribbon of earth lifts into the air next to Meiss, pelting him with dirt. The overturned ground displaces the shadow, and a scar of earth cuts through the darkness. Garfiel and Subaru meet next to Meiss, who is crouching with his acedia flowing off his shoulders. Subaru is panting, and Garfiel settles pensively next to him.

"You an' yer fuckn' surprises."

Despite the word choice, Garfiel sounds almost relieved for the turn of events.

"Why the fuck is the Witch of Envy here!"

"I hope you weren't asking me, cause I don't know! And _this_ _thing_ is the Jealous Witch? I would rather ask _how_! Wasn't she sealed in stone or something?"

"Guyz, ain't th' time for this conversation."

The darkest dark stops, it seems that cutting back on it's domain startled it. Regardless of this, it advances. Meiss sees Subaru shake for a second next to him, and as Meiss turns to face him, a voice as clear as if chiming from inside his very brain, yet muddled by distance presses itself against his temples.

**Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪.**

"Uh, wha?"

**Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪I̶̗͝L̵̩̓ͅõ̶̼̥̒v̴͙͇̓͋e̷̝͆̾Y̸̛͖̓̋o̴͍͒̔u̷̥̟̘̓Ị̴̙͙͒̿̑L̶̺͇̑͂ọ̸͈̈̔͌v̵͍͆͘e̵̛͍̊́Ÿ̴̼̬́o̴̻̓ų̷͈̰͐̀̐Ḯ̶̗̤̀L̷̳͗̌͝o̵̼̰̣͛̏̽v̸̺͘ͅe̵̠̕Y̴̛̥o̸̮̘̭̓̇̈́ų̶̞̎I̶̢͎͒̚L̴̨̛̦͍̀͛o̷͎͕̞͝v̶̼́̚ẻ̷̛͕͕Ỳ̵̥͙̰ő̵̢͍̦u̴͈͆͂̈́I̸̥̺̿̏ͅĽ̸̖ò̸̟̖̔̂v̵̈́͐͜ĕ̷̩̩̟̏Y̸̻̱̳͠o̶̫̹̖͛̊ủ̶̡͎͎̾̕Ĩ̵̫͕̈́̕Ľ̴̜͙̟ổ̴̲̩̓v̴̩͖͐̓̈e̴̡̘̣͂Y̵̥̎ͅo̸͚͉͋̑͗ù̶͕̅̆I̸̜̖̍̌͑͜L̵̤̆o̷̫͒̒v̶̛̖̬̉̉ͅe̴̡̬̔̏̋Y̴̢͐̒̆ͅỏ̶̲ù̵̗I̴̡͙͑L̶̞̖̗͛̔͒o̸͓̔͊̓v̶̡͖̤̄ė̴͉̭Y̸̬͛ơ̵̲͓̹ư̴̟͔.**

"What th' fuck?"

Subaru clasps his arms around himself, shaking at the sight of the Witch of Envy. Her bottomless, limitless, endless, boundless, everlasting, inexhaustible, infinite _Love_ calls solely for him. Only for him, for nobody else. Having such pressure exerted upon his body by the Witch, Subaru trembles slightly. His mind stays though, not having fled because of fear yet.

.

**I̵̼͍͉̝͂͒̂̀̽̚L̵̡̼̩̈́͜ơ̶̞̻͚̈́́̋̇̑͊v̷̨̡͉̳̉̆͋͊͘͜ͅe̴͍̬̋̓͒́̂͝Ỳ̴̰͑̆̃͒ͅo̶̢͖̜͔̳͇̜̠̐͒ṳ̴̦̟͖̈́̂͗̌͒̈́͑͝I̵͈̜̺͎̤̞̎́̂̑͛͌̕ͅL̶̨̡̫̤̹̙̩̯̑̀̃̌o̷͉͖̳̰̟̙̽͗v̵͎̍͌ë̶͚̘̜̝̲̿͐͆̑̒̓̂ͅY̵̗͍͂̅͛̄ô̴͚̖̮̝͉̅̇́͐̅͌͝û̷̢̞̳͉̼̲̞̻̔̇̔́̈́̄͠I̶̗̰̒̀̄͐͛̚͝Ḽ̵̢̨̠̀̆o̷̦̓̀ͅv̸̧͖̜̗̭͚͊̉͊̾́͂̇̕ͅȩ̶̝͔̘͈̱̱͑̽̂͌͗̚͝Y̶̯̮͔͈̋ơ̴̞̜͖͝ư̸̮̪̘̪̈́̐̃́̚Į̴̮̜͕͋̕̚L̵̰̿͝o̵̧̞̱̘͂̀̓́̍̈́v̷̨͕̏̎̆̂̏è̸̳͙͇̻̑̉͗̎͝Ÿ̶̧̡̥̬̻́̉̂̓̍̓ò̶͚͈̲͕͓̳́̃̂͘u̴̘̲͖͑͐̃̍̋͛ͅI̵͈̮̞̎̑́͐̌̏̆͝ͅL̵̢̨͖̭͖͙̤̓̄͐͋̒̒̚ò̵͖̩̙̬͎̌̓̿̅͗͋͘v̴͇͙̭̖̆̓̌e̸̬̤͙͙͙̣͘Y̷̨͚̝͍̜̼͌̽̂̈́͜o̴̫̘͔̮̼̎͂̏̈̉̀͂ŭ̷̱̺͗̌̒̂͜Ì̵̢̨͈̠̳͓̙͛͛̕͝L̵͕̬̥̞͗̆͗o̵̰̅̃̀͊̾v̵̡̡̠̻̜̉̑̾̂́͠e̶͖̓Ỳ̷̘̤̮̣̒́̐͐͗͐͜ȍ̶͖͖̤̙̻̘̰͇̿̉͂̊ǘ̵̡̘̻̙̥̹̈́͂͛͠I̴̡̬̿̇̓͌̿̈͋L̴̗̆̃o̷͖͈̺̍́v̷̝͒͂ḙ̸̯̠̝͚͉͍̌̕Y̶̨̥̙͙̯̭̾̂̃͑̽ơ̸̢̹͇͖̱̍͆̂̚ǘ̸̢͕̤̦̻͇̹̿ͅI̴͍̱̺͖̹̝̐̃̀͛͘͝L̸̢̡͔͓̫̗̒̇̅̽ơ̷̤̖̤̬̖̓̐̾v̸̼̳͆͂̀̀̂̚ḝ̶̤͚̯̫̺́́́͋Y̶̡̡͔̺͉̟̫̮̅̂͘ơ̷̪̞̤̟͛̏̑͌u̵͍̥̳̤͝I̵̢͎̰̦͈̩̼̊͛̂̎̽̈Ľ̸̢͙̞̯̫̣̏͑͗̏ͅȯ̶̡̡̫͈̳̹͈͒̈́̚ͅv̶̱̄̾͐e̷̗͉̜͚͖̩̔͆̽̒́ͅY̶̢͋͂͘o̵͓͛̄u̶̝̼͛̓̈́I̷̲͕̟̱̐L̸͉̘̉̊̃̏̅̇͝õ̷͖͋͑͐͛́̕v̶̇̊͘ͅe̸̳̮̘̠̰͔̎Ẏ̸̢̨̯͈͔͆̀͋̅́̆̕ǫ̶͉̪̤̫̗̟͈̈́ȗ̴͔̝͙̓͆I̸̠̝̤̜̹̽Ĺ̶͔͍̤͖̄̌̂͝ȍ̴̙͌̃̋͘v̶̥̳̜̲̹͎̈͆͌e̴̞̬̦̼͆̈́̇̑͛͝Y̴̠̘͙̭͍͗̓o̷̧̱̭͙̖̦̞̫̐̊́̃̾͐͋̚ù̵͓̝̖͖̱̻͌̊̊̋̈̐Į̷̧̺̥̻̲͆̂L̵̝͈̱͒̒̑͝͝ó̴͍̙̝͋̐́̆̿v̴͔̺̺̻̠͈͊̿͝ẽ̴̞̙̉͝Y̶̧̛̗̞̠̘̰͒̾̈̀̀̕ǫ̶̰̅͗͝ū̴̟̮͙͕̪̙̬̺͋̿̿́͆͘̚Í̷̲̘͂̈́̈́͘Ḷ̶̤͆͊̒͋ỏ̶͉̦̄́͌̀̃͠͝v̴̦̘͚̮̐͌̑e̸͇͈̫͈͑̅͗͐̄̉̚͠Y̴̧̛̠̹͉̜̒͐͗́͌́ǒ̴̧͙͉͖̙̼͌̑̊̓̚u̵̢̦̝̜͈͓̯̐I̴̡̹͖̼̻̺͑̌͝Ľ̴͇͇̼̻̜̱̈̑o̴̝̮̊̿ͅv̸̢̦̱̦̏͛̔͜ȩ̷̛̛̳͑̒Y̶͚͊ỏ̸̯͕͎̐̾͒͑͝͝ṳ̷̆̐̒̉͝Ȉ̸̧̦͑L̴̤͠õ̵͔͕͑͋͆̅̒v̴͓̄̒̍̈͆e̶̡̥̝͎͓̝͑͗̆̇̀̕͝Y̷̨̳͕̲̍̈̿̈̈̌͝ͅo̷̥͖̦̭̱͊̈́̍͋͌͝͠u̶̫͎̔I̷̡̡̧̘̮̼͓̥͠L̸̨͈̞̩̣̎͌͜ͅǫ̴͈̜̝͈͕̣͌͊͂̊̃̇̕v̸̛̥̌̋̂͘ę̴̪̥͓͓̜̖̗͂̽̀̆̌̈́̋̕Y̷͔̫͎͍̖̙̤̍̋̽̃̇̈̅͝ö̶͖̣͍̫̜́̅̒͑͝ù̶̖͕̭̬̈́̉̊̎̌̉Ị̴̧͙̮̮̘̋͜L̴̨̧̼̻̘̖͎̠̅̓̀͛̒͠o̸̺̟̟̙̘̓̓͂v̷̨̹̤̈́e̸̜̞͕͖̋̔͝Y̸͉̦̠̊͊̂̍̓̾͌o̴̡̻̦͔͐̔̕̚ͅu̷̗̗̻̎̏̄̽̈́͝͝Í̴̹͚̯̈́L̵̢̞̖͓̝̰̘̇͗͑͝͠o̶̡͍̱̫̞̼͌v̴̡̛͍̳̫́̕͘e̵̠̣͂̃̎͜͝Y̶̢͉͖̘͚̎̿̐͘o̸̡̜̺̺̳̝͙͍͑̔̌̋̀̽̍̀u̷̧̲̯̫͚̇̀͌̉͜I̵̧̡̛̬̞̩͉̬̅̅͗͠L̴̨̻̦͇͂̉͝ͅo̷̟̫͇͔͇͉͑̾̀v̶̟̤̠̙͌́̔̅͒͑͝ề̵͖̿͋̍̂̌̕Y̵̘̮̽̔͑͌͛̚͠o̸̡̩̎̓̊ų̵̤͚̼̹͍̥̈́͂́́̄͂́͛I̴̱̠͂́̈̎̃̃͠L̵͎͎̠̭̳̺͊̂̚͝ō̸̡̗̥̼̙͎͉̲v̶̲͖̠̯̭͓̫̍e̸̛̹̰͔̱̪͇̮̰͊͒̽̏̈́̔͠Y̵̠̠̻̤̝͌̒͋̍̿͜͜ọ̸͖͙̪͙͒u̷͔͇͕̻̬̦̹͛̈I̷͙̼̭̳̎̅̐Ļ̶̬͕̱͙̥̟̀o̵̦̓͛̂̓͗v̷̧̛̘͍̏͗͆̌ȩ̸̩͓̳͒̋̓͝Y̵̘̗̞̖̣̋̊̊̍̐͜͝o̴͓̦̍͑̐͝u̷͓̤̹̣͎̍̉̊̈́I̸͔̮͚̦̋̈́̆͊̚L̵̺̠̱͈̐̇̈́̂ơ̸͚̞̠͍̪̠̹̈́́̀̿̑̊͜v̵͍̝̱͛͌̀ë̵̢͙́̏̋̚͝Y̸͉͍̒̈́̉ọ̷̙̺̣́̆̈́̉̒̎̾̕u̴̧̧̩͙̟̠̩̔I̷̙̞̘̽͑L̶̛̫̫̭͋͑̓̃͛̿̚ỏ̷̡͇̟̌̂̽͐͠v̴̧̼̭̱͇̍̃̓͒̈̐̆̀ȩ̷͙͖͙̳̠̟͋̌͌̾̕͝Ý̵̠̉̊ȍ̵̹̘͈̅̆̌̌̕͜ͅǔ̷̹̹̭̟́ͅI̸̧̢̗̫͔͍͖̳͂̐̚͝͝͠L̶̠̹͂̓̀ͅò̴̠̬̱̳̱͙͖͉͌̍́̏͌͑͠v̷̬̀̆͂ě̷̡̮͙̼̮͉͝Y̵͈͎̠̌̆̈͘o̴͔̠̬̹̐͆̂́͑̏̋͜ͅú̴̥̳͉̀͌Į̵̖͓͓̘͌̀́̌͛̅̀͜L̷̨̼̬̼̉͌̔͒̚̚̕͠ọ̶̢̗͒̂v̷͎̝͈̩͎̻̾̋̿̽͂̕͘ê̷̮̰̜̞͍͖̗͝Y̶̡̳̘̲͙̐̃̌̀͆̒͘͜͝o̴̦͍̪̼̗̹̼͂̐͐̀̐͜ǔ̸͈̙̙͔͕̳̥̽͆͐̈́̐̈́̕͜I̷͉͗̒͐͝L̵͎̫͈̙̬͚͍̍ȍ̵̢̟̗͂̈́͑͛̀͘͜v̴̢̢̝̭͖̠̯̀͂̈́̆̀̈́̚e̷͔͋̅̐̈́͋Y̶͉̐̆͆͗͘ó̶͖̜̻̑̉̃͜͝͝ͅu̵̮̯̲͕̓̏͌͋̃̈́͝͠ͅĮ̴̣̬̩͍̜̱̂͐̂́̚L̸͉̣̲̥̅̍̒̍ǫ̴͍̤͈̣̫̼͊̊͘ͅv̵͇̟͓͇͕̓̿͜e̶̳̭̥͂͂͐Y̶̨̪̰̯̾́ͅo̶̜͇̥̰̼͐̈́̃͛͝ư̶̗͉̚I̶̖̞̻̫͇͑̓̅͗̒̾̕L̵͔̗̙͆ö̴̤̖̰͈̦̹́͐̎͝v̸̹̙̝̝̿́͌̚̕ͅͅȩ̸̟̣̻͈̮͇͎͊̓̊̚Y̴̜̮͓̙̪̘̎̓̈̈́͘͘ő̸̥̲̖̯͑͗͂̋͒͝͝ṷ̷̭̳̤͈̮̭̈́͒I̵̜͙̳͎͕̞̽́̀̓͘L̵̢̧̯͈͍̲̱̋͐͜͝ò̵͙͐̑͋̈́͠v̵̳̭̮̼̆͌͝ę̵̛̰̪̻̗͙̫͎͊͝͝Ỵ̴̭̼̋͑̿ǫ̵̝̃̀͊͒́ư̵̹̮̘͖̪̣̼̰̍̄̍͐̒̌Ĭ̷̲̾̈͋̓̏̚L̸̙͓̳̟͇̾o̵̩̟̪͙̩̓v̵̡̔̓͌͑̑͆͝e̸̟̽̐͛͋Ỳ̷̬͝ò̶̫̳̋͆̈́͝u̴̝̯̫̜̟͈̇Ĩ̵̛͎̄͒̾̿̕L̶̢͓͇͎̣̭̺͚̈̅̋̏̌̇̈͠ỏ̵̭͈̟̞v̵̦̤̜̼͐̈̆̊͜e̶̡͉̪̞̘̣̯̜̓͋̅͊́͑͘̕Y̷̛͕͑̓̋̔̀̇o̶̮͑̑͒̇̕̕̚u̸̘̩͙̠̞͗̀̈́̓̈́̎͘̕I̷̧̗͈̠̟̥̩͊́L̵̥̖̻̼̣̬͂̎͜ͅö̸͙̠̤̤́̊̄̾̕͠v̴̝͇̐̔͗̈́́e̸͎̥̋̆Y̵̧̻͇̲̟͐̔͋ǒ̶͚̹̟͙̼͙͍͓́̌͐͆̋͘͝ų̷̢̫͚̬̮̈́I̵̡̡̛̹̣̰͎͓̩̚L̶̳̣̲̂̋̊̕͜ơ̶̧͚̘̹̤͓͜v̷̮̗̝̘͎͕̠̇͌͜͝ę̸͓̾̀̈̚Ÿ̵͈́́̎̑͜ớ̶̳̣̻͓͉͍̓͐̑̉̎͜͜ư̷̛̤̞͉̥͓̹͌̚͠Ị̶̛̦͛̏̐̆͌̎͘L̷̥̱̼̙̔̾̐̂͌̋o̷̡̹̾͌̾̀̈̀̇v̶̡̘̯̮̭̬̥̝̄ḙ̵͔̮̩̜̒̆̈́̽̏̄͆Y̶̮̹̹̲̻̝͗͂̀̔̊̃́͘o̷̰̿͌͆ṵ̴̹̎̇͌̉̕͝Ì̵̧̧̠͓͇̍L̴͈̼͋̈́͐̋̾̅͝ơ̶̠͓̅̈́̒̊v̵̱̭̱͉͚̤͂̔̃̊̚͝e̴̪̣͕͆Y̴̧̮͕̬̟̩̻͆͂̔̊͗́ǒ̵̥͇̟͍̲̅͝u̸̧̞̪͐ͅĮ̷̖͉̰̦̗̓͝L̷͑̃͑̆͜ǫ̸͓̠͓͆v̶̩͛̎̄͝e̶͖͎̱̣̾̾̋̊Ÿ̵̢̧̛̬͇͙͗̋͊́̀̄o̵̼͍̞͔͕̣̺̐̈̇͜u̴̘͖̻̲̓̊͜Ị̶́͒̌̓L̵̜͎̠̼͙̏̈̈͗̕ǫ̷̀͝v̴̙̪̬̺͕̄͂͊̍ę̷̠͓̞̠͎̠͂̑̀̋̾̀̄͠Y̸̡͔̣̼̜͗̌ǒ̵͕͕̃̇̉͌̒̈́̊ͅư̵͖͔̥͙̝̟̟̇̍́̍͜͠Î̷̭̙̮͚͙̜̝̙̀̈́͠Ĺ̷̨͎̮̇͜͝o̵̹̲͐̂̆̏͌͝v̴̛̭͚̭̦̖͖̾̅̄̑̍͝ẹ̷̡̝̞̥͙̈͆̋̆́̎͑̒Y̴̛̘͈̳̭͆̕ȯ̷̢̜̪͑́̓̊̀̒ǘ̸̥͛I̶͎͖̲̲̤̟͐̍͋̔͝L̴̬͕͇̅̈́̂̉͒o̶͈̅̎͐͋͌̋͐͠v̷̡̱͎͚̱̤̕͝͝e̷̡͕͖͋̐͜Ỷ̸͍͊ȏ̸̜͙̹͜u̵̘̭̺̰̓͗̌͆̉̚ͅḮ̸͈͊͌L̷̖̘̫̫͚̉̄̐̓̇͐͒̈́ỏ̴͓̞̦͙̰͠͝v̸̡̨̧͇̈̈́̄̏̄̿͆̕e̵̟̒̑͗͐͑̂͝͝Y̴̖̼͓̻̲͓͕̿̑̀̇͗͗ȯ̵̡̡̧̤̮̙̥͔͑͝ư̷͓̰͓̪̈́̄̆͑̕͜I̶̼͇̲̳̜͔͋L̸͙͒́͒̆̐̎̕͝ö̵͈̲͈̝́v̶̲̠͉̟̤̠̞͗͐ể̵͕̮͑͑͗̐͝͠Ỳ̴̤̣̤̯͍̠̕͜͝ò̴̢͙͑̀̏ȗ̷̡̯̫̣̦̂͝ͅİ̸̛̬̳͇͐̈́̃̐L̸̨̩͖̫͋͑́͘ô̴̫̙̜v̷͉͍͎͚͕̫̙̒̽̍̚͜è̷̛̻͎͝Y̵̙̖̘̓͑̊͂̊͘͜͝͠o̷̟̯͖͉͈̿̄̒͘u̶̧̧̜͓̦̝̽͐͒̏͜͝͝I̸̡͈̠͓̫̳̠͖̒̈L̴̝̲̺̪̈́͊̎ơ̵̟̯̤̠̹͓̜̯̍͆̍̒ṽ̸̡̦̺̩̭̽̈́̄̋̔̋̕ͅȩ̵̛̣͉̘͎̮̹̮̒Y̵̘̙͂̋͂͆o̵̘̹͗̑͊͐́̈́͘͝u̶͚͈̩̖̬̥̺̬̿̉͗Í̵̪̫L̶͉͕̬̖̬̓̏͂͂̀͘ö̴̼̗̼̖́͌̔ṿ̷͉̱̺̖̱̌͝e̸̾͂̍͘̚͜Y̵̬̠̏ǒ̴͉̦̤̣̋̎̄͊͝u̷̫͑̍̂͐͆̄̽͑Ỉ̵̞̹̺̳̬̙͇̅L̷͈̫͓̥̩̐o̵̦̣̫̻͆̀̓͘v̷̮̹͇̦͠ͅę̶͚̽Ý̶̨̙̹̣̩̖̿̆̆͜͜͠ǒ̸̖̐̈́̏̂u̸͕͉͙̩͒͑Ì̴͉͜͝L̷͈̀̆͑̅̑͐̕͝o̴̖̫͈̥͒̊̊v̵̫̮̭̥͇͓̒̔ͅë̸̡̛̜́̍̀̚̚͝Y̷̼̦͝ͅo̵̲͒̾̀̉͘̚ͅͅu̸̮̾̅͑͒̑͝Î̶̫̩̪̼͎̲͠͝Ļ̴͔̲̤̮̗̲̲̆̿͌̃̚͠ọ̸̟̬̀̒̎͊v̷͓̥̘͇͈͔̤̠͆͒̏è̸̦͇͚̦͓͙͎̱̏̔͌͌̅͝Y̴͈̫̩̝̳͆̓o̷̮͇̽̽ủ̶̡̯̘̥̻͈͎͌̄͝Ḭ̵̢̤̣̃̀̈̀͠L̷̻͈̖̲̮̻͈̽̈͌̒̎̽͠ͅŏ̴̡̩̜̈́̾͂͠͝ͅv̵̗̩̟̆e̸̺͎̞͛͊Y̶̢̢̧̜͚̹͔̞̅o̷͚͒͌́̄̾̚̕u̸̮̠̻̞͓̼͐̀͂̉̕̚͝Ī̶̗̈́̆͛͑͘L̶̹̍o̷͇͇͖̙̻̦̎ͅv̸̹̥̟͖̑͋ȅ̴̩̺̫̖̪̯͔̿̆̎͜Y̸̧̫̘̗̥̝̱͑̾͛̌ő̶̪̻̲̊͐͝͝ū̷̙̎͋̽I̷̡̗̮͎͔̙̝͆͂͆L̷̡̹̜̋̒̿̓̕͝ȏ̴̠͇̳̋v̸̛͈͖͍̎́̀̃̌ĕ̸̗̰͉̗̖͇̣͗͛̃̃͌̂͋Y̶͉̬̦̊̄͗̽͘͜͝ǫ̸̖̰̺̏̂̃̈́̚͝ủ̴͙̘͍̐I̶͎̜̩̘̔̃̃̓͘͠L̸̦̺̟̙̬͙̯̃̒̎o̷͙̟͚̲̍̀̈́̾̓̚v̵̡͕͍͗̀̒̓̌̊͜ė̶̼̦̟̟̥̦͇́̈́͐̈͂Y̷̧͖̦̞̥̝̣̑̈́̄ǫ̵͎͎̗̱̼̙͂͆u̷̥̪̎́͐̊͜I̸͕͈̜̱̓̍̎́̍̏̚L̵̗̳̝̝̹̫͋͂͌̽̃̍o̸̝̯̖̜̤̎̑͑͆̉v̵̰̞̩̗̠̼̥̺̐̍͛̑͠ȩ̸͈̍̌͛̓̒Y̶̜̟̆̀ǫ̵̗̳̭͕̳̔ͅu̶̧̬̘̖̓́̅̃̂̀̆̐͜Ĭ̵̖́̈́L̷̡̥̟̠͊o̵̝̝̼͙̞̬͎̖̔̾́̃v̴͉̝̝̜̳̺̈́ẹ̴̖̬̩̼̘̲͗̎̋͋̕̚͠Y̷̦͕͓̔̃̿͆̂̓̐̉o̷̼̍̈ų̶̛̩̒̆̋Ȋ̵̫͈̙́̃̒̅͗̚L̴̟̳͇̓͆̈́͘͝͝o̶̳̟̫͖̳̰̲͒ṿ̸̖̯̹̫̲̦͙̓́̿̚͝͠ḙ̴̆̈̔͝Y̵͉̯̥̹͆͌́o̵̦̻̭͙̫̱̼̪͐͆͑̅̍͠u̸̡̬͍̘̫̰̪̔͜I̵̲͉̪͛̌̏L̷̝̱̗̲͕͐ō̷̡̡̲̺̦̊̉v̴̻̚ę̶̨̦͘Y̷̡͐̈́̆͝ͅo̷̻̳̣̮̜̐͑̾͊̚ư̶͉̥̾̿̀͐́̏́Ǐ̷̲͉̪̟̦̀̿L̴͚͂̑͋̓̔̽̚ǫ̶̛̭̘̝͗v̴̛̬̂̃̏̾e̴̺̓̒͗̈̾͠Y̶̨̬͑̆o̸̡̠͉̱̯̬̼͑̀͜ų̷̧͈̈́̓̕I̴̢̡̯̳͈̖͂̀̋Ľ̵̡̼͍̻͍͈̹͎ò̴͓̦͖̦͆̽̅̎̃̚͠ͅv̶̢͙̘̻̺͕͘ͅͅẽ̶̺͕̦̰͖̂̈̎̒̿͗͝Ý̷̘̜̫̫͇̯̱͂ơ̵͉̰̐̀̏́̀͛̕ǘ̴͚̿̉̂́̑̍̚I̷̛̦̥͙̻͈͑̕L̷̼͐͝͝o̸͚̻̭̜̒̍̄̕v̵̪͕̗̝̞̠̝̇̆͌̉̂͝e̶͎̲͕͐Y̷̟͕̤̦̺͉͚̏͛o̷̝͚̬̪̽͂͊͠͠͠u̸̡̟͔̠̬̪͙̔͑̋̆̒͘Î̵̛͔̰͙͍̙̖̋̓̈̋͝L̸̓́̊́ͅǫ̵̘̭͉̀v̶̧̨̡̻̾͂̋̌͑e̵̟͚̔̉̒͐͝͝Y̵̯̥̘͊͝ö̵̢͓̖̖̩̌̆̽͐̈́̚u̷̯͔͖̼̒̾͂͆͜Ì̵̻̳̗̩͖̈́̎̋̕Ļ̶̬̞̰͈̫͗ͅọ̸̉̆̈́͌v̴͓̣̋͐̒̕ẻ̸̦̠Y̷̰͚̘͐́̄̉̈́͝ͅo̵͓͎̓̊̑̚͝u̸͔̽I̶̛̲̐̽̅̍͆́L̶̫͔̦͋͛̊̕͜ò̷͈̘͖̤̬́̇̽͒͛͑͘ͅv̵̼͒̅̉̋̀̅͊͠e̴̛̠͂͑̈́̏͑̀̕Y̵̠̻͓̣̬̺̗̐͆̀̕͝o̵̥̗̦̞̼̯̤̦̓u̷̳͆̀̋̏͐̌̏͠Í̴̝͚̥͉͔̱́̕L̶̼̬̻̳͎̈́ö̸͇̺́́̎̉̀̒͋͑v̵̞͚͒̏̇̈́̽̈́̎͝ę̵͓̘̥̼̦̈́͂̏̐́̅͌̒Y̸̤̠̐̏̈́͂̓̾̚o̵̯̘̊͑́̃͒͊̏ṵ̴̧̢̡̓̚Ì̷̳̄̀͂L̴̮͌͠o̷͗͗́̈́̎͘͜v̴͈̣͕͈͈͈͆̄̕ͅe̶͈͙̳̽Y̷̜̑̑̊̒͆̃̎͝ǫ̷̲̳̱͓̞͍̥̈́̋̄̑̕û̸͓͍̈́̎̈́͒̋͌̚Î̸̺̠͖̤͂͌̂L̵̢͎̤̜̆̊̌̎͋̎̏̍ͅơ̵̫̫̠̘̪̍̿̇̈͠͠v̴̧͓̱͌̍̑͒ę̶̡̩͓̘̭̰̹̆͒͆̒̍̀Ÿ̴̧̜̪̩͇̯̩͎́̍͐̂͐͘̚͠o̷̟͎̳̪̺͓̖̎̑ŭ̸̧̨͖̥͓͖̂̇͊̚̚Ĭ̶̪̝̞̟̈́͑̒̕͠L̵̨̡͙̳̤̯͓̥̊͗o̶͍͈͖̚v̴̰͈͔̩̈̎̔̓̐e̴̳̭̙̿̀Ŷ̶̪̓́̓̍͠o̴̱̅̇͊̍̒͆͜͠u̷̧͉̗̺̤͚̘̍̀͛͠I̷̺̾͒̄̈̋̎̽L̵̫̜̑̐́̃̅͜ȍ̴̭̤̳̤̖͊̀ṿ̸͑̂̋͑̅̕ĕ̵͓̺̔͝Y̸̜̳̝̤̤͚̦̍̄̊͋̑̿ͅǫ̶̳̳̬̮̯̼̪̈́͗̕u̸͓̺͑̉I̸̱͋̆͝L̸̡̙̰̭̣͙͓͖͆́ó̸̦͈̝̫̤̉̀̈́̔̒v̶̗̥͖̖̣͙́͂ẽ̶̳̭̈̔͆͌̄̌Ỵ̸̨̢̺͇̰͛̒͂̅̎͜o̴̧̥͗̌̈͠ų̸̛̼̱̤̺͎̱̟́̓̌͂͐I̷͚̟͂L̶͓̱̫̞̣͐̐̓̀ö̸͔́v̸̠̻̪͙̾̍̅̒́͐͛̈ȩ̷̛̮̩̻̗̅͂̾͂Y̵̝̤̫̪̩͚͌̌̽ȍ̵̡̭͈͍̬͚̓͒́͑̿͘͝u̵̢̼̹͚͍̾Į̴̛̯̤̣̱̮̼̎̀̽͜L̶̹̝̗̫̰̦͊ŏ̵͓̼͂͂̑̒̈́͊̚v̷̼͙̊͐ē̴̢̖̤̈́͠Y̴̤̏̊̽͊̏̽͘͠o̵̹̮͈̭̼͆͂̊̈́̚u̶͚͆͊̾͋͑͠͝I̷͇̟̅̿L̸̬͉͜͠ǫ̴̱̮̳̦̔̐͛̍̏͠ͅv̵̨͚̙̩̥̥̹͕̋̃͑̇́e̷̢̤͆̓̈́Y̵̞͔̹̩͒̍̋ȏ̵̦͌̅̽͠u̸̧̹͖̼̹̅I̶̡̫̹̦̯͔̓͊̀̈́͛L̸̨̈́͆o̵̡̨̞͍̬̦̬̞̊̍̐v̸͙͎͈̦̹̓ĕ̵̫͋͒́̆̀́Ỳ̴̛͓̀ȏ̶̡̬̲͙̱̑͜ú̷̻̐͌̔Ȋ̸̝̰̯̜̘̱̐Ļ̵͙̱͕̹̣̤̈̀̓̒̍̕͠ò̵̢̺̮̦̤̤̣ṿ̵̧̮̤̤̭̂́ͅę̴̜̞̪̠̠̮͌̂̂Y̸̼͍̭̌o̸̦͈͎͔͗̐u̷̳̮̥͉̥̫͕̬̍͌̇̎͝I̷̡͖̘͙̟̔͋̏̊͑̉̀̕ͅL̸͓͖͔͓̤̍ǫ̴͍̭̳͓͔̣̹̈́v̷̧̯̥̹̦́́͘ͅe̴̡̡̡͙̼̠̹͆̎̎̾͝͠ͅY̴̺̑̄͝o̵̧̅̈́̈́̍̂͋͑̀ũ̶͈̠͇̼̰̦̒̄̕͝ͅͅĪ̴̧͕̭͇͇͒̈́͂̍͘͝L̵̺͓̖͓̀͑̂̿o̶̮̜͖̬̱͌͒v̴̧̨̞̫̰͔̪̙͗̏͂̈́́̂͑̚ė̷̛͕̖̫̟͙̣͂̋̊̔͝ͅÝ̶̧̮͖̾̔̂̉̂̍̂ő̴̼͉̖̻̫ͅů̷̱̠̐̈́͘͜͝I̵̖̾̃̐̈̉̒̚͝L̴̢̺̳͚̭̞̝͝ȯ̸͚v̴͉̠̘̔̒͂e̵͇͓̬̲͋Ȳ̵͈̰̙̎̊ö̵͉͔̉̍͘ȗ̷̼̦̺̭͊̿̈́̄̌́Į̵̫̞͕̥͔̲̮̈́͊͗͊̌̕L̷͕̜̥͚̩̖̈́̑o̶̙̝͐̑̓̂̋͐̍̋v̴̳̥̲̑̇͂̊͘̕͘ẽ̵̦͜Y̸̨̛̻̅̄ō̸̳̞͖̿̉̽͒͑̃͝ũ̸̹͚̄͠I̶̤̝̳̠̹͆̒͛̿̄͝L̵̹͖͇̣̻̥̓̈̈́͘̚ô̵̟̖̻͙̦͊̇̚͝v̴̭̙̺̬̤̂e̸̢̖͖͂͋́͒́͝Ẏ̶̞̹̑̈̑̎̈́̕ǫ̷̯͍̫̼̀̽͑̈́̎̌ͅù̴̝͖̝̳̞̦̗͒̈̇̕Ȉ̶̧̝̅̇̓L̵̛̥͎̎̏́̊͗ò̶̪͎̄̋̏v̵̞̗̙͈̹̰̱̾̌̕͠e̴̛̥̠̭̍̆̏͜Y̷̞͎̫͋̿̈́̎́̀͘̕o̸̰͐͑̽͊̏̓͝ṷ̷̫̪͋̄̍̄̄̇͆͝I̴̺̣͖̳̭̓̎̍͘Ļ̸̘̳̹̞͈̌̚͜͠ò̵̧̧͖̼̱̰͍̒͂̕v̷̘̲̂̚͝e̷̢̲͔̞̓̐́͑̀̾̚Y̷͇̦̹͍͂̈́͆o̴͙̟̳̹̽͛͊̌̿͘͜ṳ̸̞͈̘̻͉̍̈̽̄I̷̘̣̤̍̍͑͌́̕L̵̙̞̇̀͆̑͠͝o̸͉̻̬̤̔̀̀͆͑̎̏͊v̷̧̻̙̪̦̟̣͗͋͗͂̿͒̓͝e̵̬͔͎͕̅͋̅Y̵̫̟͊͘o̴̫̠͉͖̣͌̑͋ū̶͖̝͓̻̖̜̅̐̾Ḯ̴̝͛̏L̴̞͊͛̌̿̄̆̾ǫ̸̡͕̻̘͑̿̈́̏́͜͝v̴̢͕͍̺͖̝͉͙͛͌̏ě̷̡͗Y̷̝͈̑͛͛o̸̧̡͙̝̬̹̜̯̅̽͂ū̶͑͂̈́ͅḬ̴̧̨̳͔̒̽̍̀̆́̏͘Ľ̶̬͚͕̙͗̄͒͘̚͝ö̷͓̜̬̜̰́͛̂v̴̡̺̻͚̘͙̱̎͋̈́̕̕͠e̷̦̰̓̌̑̋̑͠Ỳ̸̺̗̦̤͍͖̮͗͌͠o̷̘̼͕̱̯͋̆͆̇͠u̸̪̲̰̓͛͋͌̿̇͠͝Í̴̛̠̫͎̖̝̤̽̈́́͗̚Ľ̶̡͔̙̰͕̠̣͔̒̈͌̓̕o̴͕̠̥̞͊̽̽͛͝v̷̢͓̐è̶̞͈Ẏ̴͎̰̹̣̤̠̼o̷͕̗͎͉̊̏̎̄̉͆͜͝ͅư̸̰͇̖̒̊́͂Ị̸̣̭̜͋̊͋̀̿ͅḼ̸̡̧̘̦͚̹̾̎͊͊ö̷͓̣̬͍̦̌̂v̶̡̮͔̮͈̲̜͑̏̆͘ͅè̸̟̝͒̕Ȳ̵̩̒͗̎͊͑̊o̸̙̹̙̼͇̖̪͈̎̾̏ȕ̵̗͍̩̭̦͗̄͊͒̚ͅỊ̷̿͂L̸̪̗͈̹̖̙̤̐̔̚ö̵̞̝̞͖́̋͑͑̋̐̆͂ṽ̴̧̤͓͐̿͑̀͛̾e̴̛̮̼̗̞͉̺͑͌̑̉͑̕Ý̴̨̧͖̣̲̩̱̕͝ͅo̴̜͕͋̄̔̆̔̅u̶̫̫̦̅͒̕Ȉ̴̛͖̤̈́̽̾̋̃̈́L̶̨͕̫̹͋ó̷̧͇̹̖̻̕v̵̡̛̟̙̜̭̮̅͋̎͆́͝ę̴͇͙͈̋Y̴̨̮̖̺͋͒̃̚o̸̩̱̅̀̉͘ṳ̸̼̭̉́͠Į̷̢̣̼̩̣̞̝͂͑͐̈́̐̒͝L̴͎͚͉̼͑͆͋̈́̀̕͝ȍ̶̦͕̻̖v̵̢̗̠͓̦̬̞̠̀͗͑̒e̶̛͉̼̹̗͓͖̐͛̓́̇̅͌ͅŸ̵͓̬͔̦̮̞́̀o̷̖͙̤̽̑̊ǔ̷̻͍̪̟͎͕̗̎͌͝ͅḮ̷̢̡̲̤̠͍̖̜̈̍̽́̐L̷̡̢͚͕̳̰̱̹̏̈́̈́o̷̦̱̍͘͜v̸̢͙͔͉̰̖̐̀͊e̸̢̗̞͂̽̅̈͊͠Y̷̤̰̲̩̪̒̀̏̑̽̄ȍ̶̧̲̳͔̮̇u̴̬̎̾̑̿̓Ỉ̵̧̙̝̜͕͇̈́̎͐L̵͎̗̥̲̙̮̳͖͊͂́̓̎̇̏ò̴̮̼͍̭̜̜̹̑̚v̴̨̧͇̱̥͕̐e̵̩̰̙͈͎̓͆̑̒̈͊͝Y̶͈͚̺͔̬̝͐͝ő̴͉͍̦̲̱͛͗̈́͆͗͜ư̶͇̲̺͙̘̙͐͝Ḭ̶̟̺̳͚̗͎̏̓̚L̵̖̭̰̘̫̼̝̂̅̈̆̚ő̷̭̽̒́͑̾͌͘v̷͍̤́̐͂̌̀ẹ̵̭͓̤͈͇̜͎͋̍Y̸̛͇͐̾̍͛̎ŏ̵̙̠͉̗͇̝̞̏̅͝ṵ̷̌͌̒̈́̀̍͝Į̸̫̝͔̼̝̤̼͋̾̚L̴̨̲̹̪̺͓̺̍̆̕͝ơ̶̛̬̗̘̱͔͖͌̉͌͘v̷̝̦̳́͒e̴̲̓̓̀Ÿ̵̻̭̪͍͙̯̜̦́͋̀͂͝o̵͚̝̙͇͉̳̰̓̀̄̓̽͂̄ứ̵̧̡̧̝̱̘̈̒͐̃͝I̴̜̯̦̘͇͍̹̓͒̓͘L̶̩̲̩̒̐̇̂̀͘͝o̶̗̔͛͘͠v̵̺̥̲͈͊͑̔̓͆̔̆͗͜ę̵̀̀̀Y̶̪̯̩͖̝͇̋̈̉̂̄͝ͅo̷̘̱͖̟̲̓̉͂͘̕ū̵͙̼̊I̴̖͍̬̥̙̬̱͋̐Ḷ̴̡̪͉̥̭̜̗̎̾̾͝o̴̞̘̼͔̍́́̀̑̆͜v̴̨̪͉̼̬̭̰̀͝ë̵̢̡̹́̽̊Y̴̢̢̙̤̤̤̅o̸̧̳͍̰̞̹̽u̴̡͚̲̲͂́̋̌Ị̴̢̙̼̭̤̽͋͐̃̍̚͝L̸̡̡̰͈̱͎̣̉̃͐̀͑ȏ̵̧̰͈͉̟̩̮́v̵̯͎̭̗̎͊͗̍̐͌e̶͈͊̋́͊̔Y̵̨̯͔̿̐͝ȍ̶̖̆u̷̦̻̫̜͐̿͆.  
.**

"What is it talking about?"

The shadow, proclaiming love, advances towards the three lone survivors. Between Meiss' acedia and Garfiel's blessing of Earth Spirits they could hold the darkness back. _For how long though?_ This was the question that reigned over others. The darkness advanced, but Meiss beat it back with the light of adecia.

"… Garfiel."

 **Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪I̶̗͝L̵̩̓ͅõ̶̼̥̒v̴͙͇̓͋e̷̝͆̾Y̸̛͖̓̋o̴͍͒̔u̷̥̟̘̓Ị̴̙͙͒̿̑L̶̺͇̑͂ọ̸͈̈̔͌v̵͍͆͘e̵̛͍̊́Ÿ̴̼̬́o̴̻̓ų̷͈̰͐̀̐Ḯ̶̗̤̀L̷̳͗̌͝o̵̼̰̣͛̏̽v̸̺͘ͅe̵̠̕Y̴̛̥o̸̮̘̭̓̇̈́ų̶̞̎I̶̢͎͒̚L̴̨̛̦͍̀͛o̷͎͕̞͝v̶̼́̚ẻ̷̛͕͕Ỳ̵̥͙̰ő̵̢͍̦u̴͈͆͂̈́I̸̥̺̿̏ͅĽ̸̖ò̸̟̖̔̂v̵̈́͐͜ĕ̷̩̩̟̏Y̸̻̱̳͠o̶̫̹̖͛̊ủ̶̡͎͎̾̕Ĩ̵̫͕̈́̕Ľ̴̜͙̟ổ̴̲̩̓v̴̩͖͐̓̈e̴̡̘̣͂Y̵̥̎ͅo̸͚͉͋̑͗ù̶͕̅̆I̸̜̖̍̌͑͜L̵̤̆o̷̫͒̒v̶̛̖̬̉̉ͅe̴̡̬̔̏̋Y̴̢͐̒̆ͅỏ̶̲ù̵̗I̴̡͙͑L̶̞̖̗͛̔͒o̸͓̔͊̓v̶̡͖̤̄ė̴͉̭Y̸̬͛ơ̵̲͓̹ư̴̟͔**.̴̣̏̉̏

"Yeah?"

"Was that full power?"

 **Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪I̶̗͝L̵̩̓ͅõ̶̼̥̒v̴͙͇̓͋e̷̝͆̾Y̸̛͖̓̋o̴͍͒̔u̷̥̟̘̓Ị̴̙͙͒̿̑L̶̺͇̑͂ọ̸͈̈̔͌v̵͍͆͘e̵̛͍̊́Ÿ̴̼̬́o̴̻̓ų̷͈̰͐̀̐Ḯ̶̗̤̀L̷̳͗̌͝o̵̼̰̣͛̏̽v̸̺͘ͅe̵̠̕Y̴̛̥o̸̮̘̭̓̇̈́ų̶̞̎I̶̢͎͒̚L̴̨̛̦͍̀͛o̷͎͕̞͝v̶̼́̚ẻ̷̛͕͕Ỳ̵̥͙̰ő̵̢͍̦u̴͈͆͂̈́I̸̥̺̿̏ͅĽ̸̖ò̸̟̖̔̂v̵̈́͐͜ĕ̷̩̩̟̏Y̸̻̱̳͠o̶̫̹̖͛̊ủ̶̡͎͎̾̕Ĩ̵̫͕̈́̕Ľ̴̜͙̟ổ̴̲̩̓v̴̩͖͐̓̈e̴̡̘̣͂Y̵̥̎ͅo̸͚͉͋̑͗ù̶͕̅̆I̸̜̖̍̌͑͜L̵̤̆o̷̫͒̒v̶̛̖̬̉̉ͅe̴̡̬̔̏̋Y̴̢͐̒̆ͅỏ̶̲ù̵̗I̴̡͙͑L̶̞̖̗͛̔͒o̸͓̔͊̓v̶̡͖̤̄ė̴͉̭Y̸̬͛ơ̵̲͓̹ư̴̟͔**.̴̣̏̉̏

Garfiel scoffed, digging his hand into the ground. WIth a hoarse shout, he lifted the ground. The earth toppled, enough to blanket an average sized house from beyond the waterfall in all three dimensions. The feat has Meiss surprised, he couldn't fathom the strength required to move that much dirt.

**Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪I̶̗͝L̵̩̓ͅõ̶̼̥̒v̴͙͇̓͋e̷̝͆̾Y̸̛͖̓̋o̴͍͒̔u̷̥̟̘̓Ị̴̙͙͒̿̑L̶̺͇̑͂ọ̸͈̈̔͌v̵͍͆͘e̵̛͍̊́Ÿ̴̼̬́o̴̻̓ų̷͈̰͐̀̐Ḯ̶̗̤̀L̷̳͗̌͝o̵̼̰̣͛̏̽v̸̺͘ͅe̵̠̕Y̴̛̥o̸̮̘̭̓̇̈́ų̶̞̎I̶̢͎͒̚L̴̨̛̦͍̀͛o̷͎͕̞͝v̶̼́̚ẻ̷̛͕͕Ỳ̵̥͙̰ő̵̢͍̦u̴͈͆͂̈́I̸̥̺̿̏ͅĽ̸̖ò̸̟̖̔̂v̵̈́͐͜ĕ̷̩̩̟̏Y̸̻̱̳͠o̶̫̹̖͛̊ủ̶̡͎͎̾̕Ĩ̵̫͕̈́̕Ľ̴̜͙̟ổ̴̲̩̓v̴̩͖͐̓̈e̴̡̘̣͂Y̵̥̎ͅo̸͚͉͋̑͗ù̶͕̅̆I̸̜̖̍̌͑͜L̵̤̆o̷̫͒̒v̶̛̖̬̉̉ͅe̴̡̬̔̏̋Y̴̢͐̒̆ͅỏ̶̲ù̵̗I̴̡͙͑L̶̞̖̗͛̔͒o̸͓̔͊̓v̶̡͖̤̄ė̴͉̭Y̸̬͛ơ̵̲͓̹ư̴̟͔.̴̣̏̉̏.**

For naught, upon hitting the Witch of Envy the sheet of earth was speared by the darkness. The slab was splintered and devoured, sucked into the unending darkness. Meiss and Garfiel gave an annoyed huff, while Subaru glanced around.

"The forest's shrinking…"

Garfiel snaps his head around, taking in the short and stunted trees as Meiss bides them more time with acedia. _The darkness is coming from that darker dark, the nucleus, how do we combat this…?_

 **Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪I̶̗͝L̵̩̓ͅõ̶̼̥̒v̴͙͇̓͋e̷̝͆̾Y̸̛͖̓̋o̴͍͒̔u̷̥̟̘̓Ị̴̙͙͒̿̑L̶̺͇̑͂ọ̸͈̈̔͌v̵͍͆͘e̵̛͍̊́Ÿ̴̼̬́o̴̻̓ų̷͈̰͐̀̐Ḯ̶̗̤̀L̷̳͗̌͝o̵̼̰̣͛̏̽v̸̺͘ͅe̵̠̕Y̴̛̥o̸̮̘̭̓̇̈́ų̶̞̎I̶̢͎͒̚L̴̨̛̦͍̀͛o̷͎͕̞͝v̶̼́̚ẻ̷̛͕͕Ỳ̵̥͙̰ő̵̢͍̦u̴͈͆͂̈́I̸̥̺̿̏ͅĽ̸̖ò̸̟̖̔̂v̵̈́͐͜ĕ̷̩̩̟̏Y̸̻̱̳͠o̶̫̹̖͛̊ủ̶̡͎͎̾̕Ĩ̵̫͕̈́̕Ľ̴̜͙̟ổ̴̲̩̓v̴̩͖͐̓̈e̴̡̘̣͂Y̵̥̎ͅo̸͚͉͋̑͗ù̶͕̅̆I̸̜̖̍̌͑͜L̵̤̆o̷̫͒̒v̶̛̖̬̉̉ͅe̴̡̬̔̏̋Y̴̢͐̒̆ͅỏ̶̲ù̵̗I̴̡͙͑L̶̞̖̗͛̔͒o̸͓̔͊̓v̶̡͖̤̄ė̴͉̭Y̸̬͛ơ̵̲͓̹ư̴̟͔**.̴̣̏̉̏

"…Cut off the head."

"Yer damn right!"

Acedia trailing behind Meiss, he dashes towards the Witch of Envy with Garfiel and Subaru on his heels. Land was liberated by Meiss, and with each stomp, Garfiel sent earth flying to expand their shadow-free zone. Nearing the Witch, she raised her arms to attack, the shadows pressing in closer, invisible hands grasping for the three.

 **Ị̷͎̋̊L̴̨͕̐̊o̴̦̽̔͝v̵͇̮̻̌ë̵̼́Ỵ̷̞͝ǫ̸̐ȗ̴̼̪I̶̗͝L̵̩̓ͅõ̶̼̥̒v̴͙͇̓͋e̷̝͆̾Y̸̛͖̓̋o̴͍͒̔u̷̥̟̘̓Ị̴̙͙͒̿̑L̶̺͇̑͂ọ̸͈̈̔͌v̵͍͆͘e̵̛͍̊́Ÿ̴̼̬́o̴̻̓ų̷͈̰͐̀̐Ḯ̶̗̤̀L̷̳͗̌͝o̵̼̰̣͛̏̽v̸̺͘ͅe̵̠̕Y̴̛̥o̸̮̘̭̓̇̈́ų̶̞̎I̶̢͎͒̚L̴̨̛̦͍̀͛o̷͎͕̞͝v̶̼́̚ẻ̷̛͕͕Ỳ̵̥͙̰ő̵̢͍̦u̴͈͆͂̈́I̸̥̺̿̏ͅĽ̸̖ò̸̟̖̔̂v̵̈́͐͜ĕ̷̩̩̟̏Y̸̻̱̳͠o̶̫̹̖͛̊ủ̶̡͎͎̾̕Ĩ̵̫͕̈́̕Ľ̴̜͙̟ổ̴̲̩̓v̴̩͖͐̓̈e̴̡̘̣͂Y̵̥̎ͅo̸͚͉͋̑͗ù̶͕̅̆I̸̜̖̍̌͑͜L̵̤̆o̷̫͒̒v̶̛̖̬̉̉ͅe̴̡̬̔̏̋Y̴̢͐̒̆ͅỏ̶̲ù̵̗I̴̡͙͑L̶̞̖̗͛̔͒o̸͓̔͊̓v̶̡͖̤̄ė̴͉̭Y̸̬͛ơ̵̲͓̹ư̴̟͔**.̴̣̏̉̏

"Garfiel! Make another large platform to the side!"

The ground was upturned, blocking the invisible hands, and Meiss sprang into the air. Spinning like a top, acedia beating back the shadow, Meiss advanced. _Closer, the darkness draws closer. Invisible hand, don't know what that is, cut it down. Darkness underfoot, my light banishes it. Speed, leaves are at my feet now, brush past them. Fist, connect._ At the end of a long weal in the darkness, Meiss comes face to face with the Witch of Envy.

**Ǐ̵͔̞̾L̶̛̫̂̑ǫ̸̻͑̏v̷̤͚̽̔ȅ̵͎̼̚Y̸̬̲̋o̸͍̼͗̾u̸̟̿̿̚Į̸̬̩͗Ḽ̸̳͔̆̚o̸̳̗̅ͅv̵͚̙̉̈e̶͕̐Y̶̧͑ͅo̵͎̺͝ů̸̙͈Į̴̫̏̃L̷̟̠͈̄̚ó̵̪v̴̢͛e̵̫̒Y̷̲̘̣͋ö̵̧̮̟́u̵̞̯̗͌̎͌Y̶̨̨̻͘o̶̻͚̜͒u̷̩̦̹͝Y̷̤̼̌́͂ŏ̸̬̈́̕u̷͈̻̜̔̏̕Ŷ̴̠͉̙̈ǒ̸̦ȗ̵͈̈́̀Ỷ̷͍̳͖̅̚ȏ̸͓̣̐̕u̸̪̅Y̴̠͂̀o̸͔̰͊̓͜u̷̡̝̫͌͝Y̴̳̟̺̑̕̚o̴̡͂̈́u̶̳̝̐͐̕W̴̆̃͜͜h̸̨̛̫̊̿ō̸̞̔͋Ḁ̵͌ŗ̷̺͓͝ē̵͇̺̣̑Y̸̢̛̒o̷̘͎͆ǘ̴̩?̸̤͕̀͂̆**

A glowing blur, Meiss' fist connected with the Witch of Envy's face. This feat accomplished by an amount of people countable on one hand, including Meiss himself. The punch has so much force behind it that Meiss hears bone crack and muscle rip as the Witch of Envy's head snaps to the side. The instant his glowing hand touches the cheek of the Witch the shadows surrounding her face and shoulders part. Silver hair, purple irises, pointed ears, staples of the Witch of Envy. What throws Meiss off is her hairclip and clothes. They belong to…

"Emilia?"

Meiss' hesitation is paid for dearly. Before he can react, the shadows latch onto his other arm, the one not with dolorem active.

**G̸̳͖̩̎̅o̸̳̩̤͊̐̇t̵͕̦̰̀̾Y̶̬̒͐ö̴̤̠̗́̽u̵͇̅͑G̷͇͚͂̿͌o̸͕̿ṱ̵͕̇̄̐Y̵̜͓͎͑o̴̪̬͋͐u̶͇̣͎̔̀̓G̷̩̹̦͌ó̶͙̳̾̉͜t̸͕̝̂Y̸͙͗̈́o̴̱͆̍͝u̵̺̯͈̍͒G̷̠̘͖̊͐̄ȏ̸̞̝͓̄t̷̪̝̱͌̌Y̴̨̪̿͊͝o̸͓͈̱̾ù̶̺̟͒Ğ̷̠̠͜͠͝o̴̟͐ẗ̶̘̳́͜Y̸̻͖͎͐ŏ̶͈̀ụ̴́G̴̗̺͇͊o̴̬̫͇̍̈́͝t̵͕͇͉͗Y̷̘͛͌o̸͈͗̽̏ư̶̦̚͠G̵̟̰̱̏̆̉ơ̵͍̬t̶̙̲͊Ŷ̵͍̠͜ȯ̶͈͔͘ù̶̪̫G̷̣̠̐͝o̸̱̳̚t̴͚̚͘͜Y̶̰̗̼̍o̵̤͗̍ù̸͔G̷̜̳͎͐̽̊o̴̻͕͋̋t̶̨͔͉̑͋͊Ỳ̵̖̻̭͗̏o̸̢͋u̶̗̳̬̐G̷̩̑o̶̧̩͊͝͝t̸̝͓̝̄̾͝Y̶̜̹͒̅͊o̵̱̜̚u̵̲̗͂̃͠G̴̺̬̋̊ͅo̶̰̔̌̆t̸̯͇̆Y̶̦̯̝̏̎̔o̷̗͔͜͠u̴̲̮̝̇G̶̗̍ọ̶̦̽̃t̷̛͔̖̍Y̶̳̬͓̍o̸̝͑͠u̵͉̠̟̓.**

Meiss tries to pull his forearm from the shadows, yet the grip of the darkness is too strong. He tries to switch dolorem from his free arm to the one with shadow, but the light sputters out as his entire left arm is consumed.

**「̴̻̲̀S̴͚̳̣̋̅̅h̸̛̥̒͝į̷̞̆͛́ͅť̸̟̟͓̀t̷̮̚ȍ̸̱̻̟ ̶̞̙̦̚ņ̸̞͘ọ̸̥̃̒̕ ̸̝͙͗̕K̸̙̱̪̎e̷͕͇̒͐ṅ̷̖̲̔̌'̴͔͑̈́̏n̴͙̗̓͌̀ō̵̲̩͒͗̔,̵̢̠̎͝｣̸͇̗͎͌́ ̵̡̻̭̽Ṉ̶̩͇̇ò̵̧̯w̶͇̋̔͠ ̵̯̬̄Y̶̮̎̄͒ͅo̷͖͛ṵ̸̀ ̴̳̼̱͝R̸̜̯͑̿e̴͌̍̍͜m̷̰͖̙̀͊͠ë̶͓́̎̎m̸̻͚̙̊b̶͇̲̒͝e̵͎̜̿̄͊ř̴͔̳.̸̯̩̐**

"!?-"

Meiss feels a cold chill pass over him, as if a chorus of damned souls is wailing in his ears. Then he feels a sense of absolute weightlessness. Fabric and skin ripping and pulling, muscle and fat and organs deforming and shaping into something unnatural. Meiss feels the overwhelming need to vomit, yet it seems he has no stomach to pull bile from anymore. The blonde's body unsticks from the air and he goes flying. Sailing through the air, arms and legs trailing out in front of him along with grey-pink flaps of tissue and velvet blood. Meiss has the rare opportunity to witness his intestines leave his body before he hits one of the taller trees, one with a small bit of trunk remaining above ground. His arms and legs splay out behind him and his head impacts the rough bark. After an unnoticable delay the blonde's intestines smack into his chest with a wet slap.

"M-MEISS!"

Being the only one capable of perceiving what exactly had happened, Subaru is the first to react to Meiss being blown away by the Witch of Envy. Entranced by the display of the blonde's deadly fluidity, Subaru was acutely aware of the screeching in his ears, the chorus of damned souls breaking apart his perception, the burst of purple energy. In the Witch's world, she stepped around the frozen Meiss, examining him at a few angles before returning to her original position. This time without the whispering in his ears, loud tinnitus rings through Subaru's head in the absence of sound. Then uncountable invisible hands ruptured from the Witch's back to impale Meiss, spraying flaps of skin, pink tissue, and blood behind him in the frozen time. The unseen hands returned to their user, and time resumed.

Subaru's eyes and head follow the trajectory of Meiss as he sails through the air, hitting a tree before sliding to the ground. The exposed guts that Subaru can see reminds him of the times he was killed by Elsa, and the raw power of the Witch of Envy shocks him silent. With what Subaru had seen of Meiss so far he wasn't Reinhardt level by any means, but he definitely has the capability to go toe-to-toe with and even surpass the likes of Julius and Wilhelm. It was safe to say he was the strongest one in Sanctuary currently, with Garfiel being a close second. To be defeated so easily and absolutely… There was no chance of survival for this loop. Not that survival was an option here. Everyone except for him and Garfiel have been consumed. Everyone has died

**.**

**o̷̟͎̳̪̺͓̖̎̑ŭ̸̧̨͖̥͓͖̂̇͊̚̚Ĭ̶̪̝̞̟̈́͑̒̕͠L̵̨̡͙̳̤̯͓̥̊͗o̶͍͈͖̚v̴̰͈͔̩̈̎̔̓̐e̴̳̭̙̿̀Ŷ̶̪̓́̓̍͠o̴̱̅̇͊̍̒͆͜͠u̷̧͉̗̺̤͚̘̍̀͛͠I̷̺̾͒̄̈̋̎̽L̵̫̜̑̐́̃̅͜ȍ̴̭̤̳̤̖͊̀ṿ̸͑̂̋͑̅̕ĕ̵͓̺̔͝Y̸̜̳̝̤̤͚̦̍̄̊͋̑̿ͅǫ̶̳̳̬̮̯̼̪̈́͗̕u̸͓̺͑̉I̸̱͋̆͝L̸̡̙̰̭̣͙͓͖͆́ó̸̦͈̝̫̤̉̀̈́̔̒v̶̗̥͖̖̣͙́͂ẽ̶̳̭̈̔͆͌̄̌Ỵ̸̨̢̺͇̰͛̒͂̅̎͜o̴̧̥͗̌̈͠ų̸̛̼̱̤̺͎̱̟́̓̌͂͐I̷͚̟͂L̶͓̱̫̞̣͐̐̓̀ö̸͔́v̸̠̻̪͙̾̍̅̒́͐͛̈ȩ̷̛̮̩̻̗̅͂̾͂Y̵̝̤̫̪̩͚͌̌̽ȍ̵̡̭͈͍̬͚̓͒́͑̿͘͝u̵̢̼̹͚͍̾Į̴̛̯̤̣̱̮̼̎̀̽͜L̶̹̝̗̫̰̦͊ŏ̵͓̼͂͂̑̒̈́͊̚v̷̼͙̊͐ē̴̢̖̤̈́͠Y̴̤̏̊̽͊̏̽͘͠o̵̹̮͈̭̼͆͂̊̈́̚u̶͚͆͊̾͋͑͠͝I̷͇̟̅̿L̸̬͉͜͠ǫ̴̱̮̳̦̔̐͛̍̏͠ͅv̵̨͚̙̩̥̥̹͕̋̃͑̇́e̷̢̤͆̓̈́Y̵̞͔̹̩͒̍̋ȏ̵̦͌̅̽͠u̸̧̹͖̼̹̅I̶̡̫̹̦̯͔̓͊̀̈́͛L̸̨̈́͆o̵̡̨̞͍̬̦̬̞̊̍̐v̸͙͎͈̦̹̓ĕ̵̫͋͒́̆̀́Ỳ̴̛͓̀ȏ̶̡̬̲͙̱̑͜ú̷̻̐͌̔Ȋ̸̝̰̯̜̘̱̐Ļ̵͙̱͕̹̣̤̈̀̓̒̍̕͠ò̵̢̺̮̦̤̤̣ṿ̵̧̮̤̤̭̂́ͅę̴̜̞̪̠̠̮͌̂̂Y̸̼͍̭̌o̸̦͈͎͔͗̐u̷̳̮̥͉̥̫͕̬̍͌̇̎͝I̷̡͖̘͙̟̔͋̏̊͑̉̀̕ͅL̸͓͖͔͓̤̍ǫ̴͍̭̳͓͔̣̹̈́v̷̧̯̥̹̦́́͘ͅe̴̡̡̡͙̼̠̹͆̎̎̾͝͠ͅY̴̺̑̄͝o̵̧̅̈́̈́̍̂͋͑̀ũ̶͈̠͇̼̰̦̒̄̕͝ͅͅĪ̴̧͕̭͇͇͒̈́͂̍͘͝L̵̺͓̖͓̀͑̂̿o̶̮̜͖̬̱͌͒v̴̧̨̞̫̰͔̪̙͗̏͂̈́́̂͑̚ė̷̛͕̖̫̟͙̣͂̋̊̔͝ͅÝ̶̧̮͖̾̔̂̉̂̍̂ő̴̼͉̖̻̫ͅů̷̱̠̐̈́͘͜͝I̵̖̾̃̐̈̉̒̚͝L̴̢̺̳͚̭̞̝͝ȯ̸͚v̴͉̠̘̔̒͂e̵͇͓̬̲͋Ȳ̵͈̰̙̎̊ö̵͉͔̉̍͘ȗ̷̼̦̺̭͊̿̈́̄̌́Į̵̫̞͕̥͔̲̮̈́͊͗͊̌̕L̷͕̜̥͚̩̖̈́̑o̶̙̝͐̑̓̂̋͐̍̋v̴̳̥̲̑̇͂̊͘̕͘ẽ̵̦͜Y̸̨̛̻̅̄ō̸̳̞͖̿̉̽͒͑̃͝ũ̸̹͚̄͠I̶̤̝̳̠̹͆̒͛̿̄͝L̵̹͖͇̣̻̥̓̈̈́͘̚ô̵̟̖̻͙̦͊̇̚͝v̴̭̙̺̬̤̂e̸̢̖͖͂͋́͒́͝Ẏ̶̞̹̑̈̑̎̈́̕ǫ̷̯͍̫̼̀̽͑̈́̎̌ͅù̴̝͖̝̳̞̦̗͒̈̇̕Ȉ̶̧̝̅̇̓L̵̛̥͎̎̏́̊͗ò̶̪͎̄̋̏v̵̞̗̙͈̹̰̱̾̌̕͠e̴̛̥̠̭̍̆̏͜Y̷̞͎̫͋̿̈́̎́̀͘̕o̸̰͐͑̽͊̏̓͝ṷ̷̫̪͋̄̍̄̄̇͆͝I̴̺̣͖̳̭̓̎̍͘Ļ̸̘̳̹̞͈̌̚͜͠ò̵̧̧͖̼̱̰͍̒͂̕v̷̘̲̂̚͝e̷̢̲͔̞̓̐́͑̀̾̚Y̷͇̦̹͍͂̈́͆o̴͙̟̳̹̽͛͊̌̿͘͜ṳ̸̞͈̘̻͉̍̈̽̄I̷̘̣̤̍̍͑͌́̕L̵̙̞̇̀͆̑͠͝o̸͉̻̬̤̔̀̀͆͑̎̏͊v̷̧̻̙̪̦̟̣͗͋͗͂̿͒̓͝e̵̬͔͎͕̅͋̅Y̵̫̟͊͘o̴̫̠͉͖̣͌̑͋ū̶͖̝͓̻̖̜̅̐̾Ḯ̴̝͛̏L̴̞͊͛̌̿̄̆̾ǫ̸̡͕̻̘͑̿̈́̏́͜͝v̴̢͕͍̺͖̝͉͙͛͌̏ě̷̡͗Y̷̝͈̑͛͛o̸̧̡͙̝̬̹̜̯̅̽͂ū̶͑͂̈́ͅḬ̴̧̨̳͔̒̽̍̀̆́̏͘Ľ̶̬͚͕̙͗̄͒͘̚͝ö̷͓̜̬̜̰́͛̂v̴̡̺̻͚̘͙̱̎͋̈́̕̕͠e̷̦̰̓̌̑̋̑͠Ỳ̸̺̗̦̤͍͖̮͗͌͠o̷̘̼͕̱̯͋̆͆̇͠u̸̪̲̰̓͛͋͌̿̇͠͝Í̴̛̠̫͎̖̝̤̽̈́́͗̚Ľ̶̡͔̙̰͕̠̣͔̒̈͌̓̕o̴͕̠̥̞͊̽̽͛͝v̷̢͓̐è̶̞͈Ẏ̴͎̰̹̣̤̠̼o̷͕̗͎͉̊̏̎̄̉͆͜͝ͅư̸̰͇̖̒̊́͂Ị̸̣̭̜͋̊͋̀̿ͅḼ̸̡̧̘̦͚̹̾̎͊͊ö̷͓̣̬͍̦̌̂v̶̡̮͔̮͈̲̜͑̏̆͘ͅè̸̟̝͒̕Ȳ̵̩̒͗̎͊͑̊o̸̙̹̙̼͇̖̪͈̎̾̏ȕ̵̗͍̩̭̦͗̄͊͒̚ͅỊ̷̿͂L̸̪̗͈̹̖̙̤̐̔̚ö̵̞̝̞͖́̋͑͑̋̐̆͂ṽ̴̧̤͓͐̿͑̀͛̾e̴̛̮̼̗̞͉̺͑͌̑̉͑̕Ý̴̨̧͖̣̲̩̱̕͝ͅo̴̜͕͋̄̔̆̔̅u̶̫̫̦̅͒̕Ȉ̴̛͖̤̈́̽̾̋̃̈́L̶̨͕̫̹͋ó̷̧͇̹̖̻̕v̵̡̛̟̙̜̭̮̅͋̎͆́͝ę̴͇͙͈̋Y̴̨̮̖̺͋͒̃̚o̸̩̱̅̀̉͘ṳ̸̼̭̉́͠Į̷̢̣̼̩̣̞̝͂͑͐̈́̐̒͝L̴͎͚͉̼͑͆͋̈́̀̕͝ȍ̶̦͕̻̖v̵̢̗̠͓̦̬̞̠̀͗͑̒e̶̛͉̼̹̗͓͖̐͛̓́̇̅͌ͅŸ̵͓̬͔̦̮̞́̀o̷̖͙̤̽̑̊ǔ̷̻͍̪̟͎͕̗̎͌͝ͅḮ̷̢̡̲̤̠͍̖̜̈̍̽́̐L̷̡̢͚͕̳̰̱̹̏̈́̈́o̷̦̱̍͘͜v̸̢͙͔͉̰̖̐̀͊e̸̢̗̞͂̽̅̈͊͠Y̷̤̰̲̩̪̒̀̏̑̽̄ȍ̶̧̲̳͔̮̇u̴̬̎̾̑̿̓Ỉ̵̧̙̝̜͕͇̈́̎͐L̵͎̗̥̲̙̮̳͖͊͂́̓̎̇̏ò̴̮̼͍̭̜̜̹̑̚v̴̨̧͇̱̥͕̐e̵̩̰̙͈͎̓͆̑̒̈͊͝Y̶͈͚̺͔̬̝͐͝ő̴͉͍̦̲̱͛͗̈́͆͗͜ư̶͇̲̺͙̘̙͐͝Ḭ̶̟̺̳͚̗͎̏̓̚L̵̖̭̰̘̫̼̝̂̅̈̆̚ő̷̭̽̒́͑̾͌͘v̷͍̤́̐͂̌̀ẹ̵̭͓̤͈͇̜͎͋̍Y̸̛͇͐̾̍͛̎ŏ̵̙̠͉̗͇̝̞̏̅͝ṵ̷̌͌̒̈́̀̍͝Į̸̫̝͔̼̝̤̼͋̾̚L̴̨̲̹̪̺͓̺̍̆̕͝ơ̶̛̬̗̘̱͔͖͌̉͌͘v̷̝̦̳́͒e̴̲̓̓̀Ÿ̵̻̭̪͍͙̯̜̦́͋̀͂͝o̵͚̝̙͇͉̳̰̓̀̄̓̽͂̄ứ̵̧̡̧̝̱̘̈̒͐̃͝I̴̜̯̦̘͇͍̹̓͒̓͘L̶̩̲̩̒̐̇̂̀͘͝o̶̗̔͛͘͠v̵̺̥̲͈͊͑̔̓͆̔̆͗͜ę̵̀̀̀Y̶̪̯̩͖̝͇̋̈̉̂̄͝ͅo̷̘̱͖̟̲̓̉͂͘̕ū̵͙̼̊I̴̖͍̬̥̙̬̱͋̐Ḷ̴̡̪͉̥̭̜̗̎̾̾͝o̴̞̘̼͔̍́́̀̑̆͜v̴̨̪͉̼̬̭̰̀͝ë̵̢̡̹́̽̊Y̴̢̢̙̤̤̤̅o̸̧̳͍̰̞̹̽u̴̡͚̲̲͂́̋̌Ị̴̢̙̼̭̤̽͋͐̃̍̚͝L̸̡̡̰͈̱͎̣̉̃͐̀͑ȏ̵̧̰͈͉̟̩̮́v̵̯͎̭̗̎͊͗̍̐͌e̶͈͊̋́͊̔Y̵̨̯͔̿̐͝ȍ̶̖̆u̷̦̻̫̜͐̿͆..**

**.**

"… I hate you."

—

Agony.

Anguished, pained.

Tormenting, suffering, excruciating.

Meiss shocks awake, as if suddenly plunged into ice water from a state of sleeping. He curls into the fetal position, hands and arms folded over his stomach as a blood curdling scream echoes from his lips.

"FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKKKKKKKK!"

Meiss flips around, rolling across the ground until he hits a cold wall. His movements stop, and he shakes violently.

His hands explore the cavity in his abdomen. He desperately claws at his intestines, trying to pull them back into his body. Small, large; is that a kidney? Too much, the slippery organs evade his fingers and all he is left with is hands slick with blood-

-is not what happens.

Slowly, the blonde comes to his senses. His hands reach for his stomach, finding fabric that had been blown away previously. The hole created by the Witch of Envy is nonexistent, sealed. No, not sealed, entirely _gone_. Meiss lifts up his long sleeve shirt to reveal no mark, no scar, no lasting pain. It was as if his fight with the Witch of Envy never happened.

_It was so clear, I could feel it as if it was real._

…

_The shadows are gone… Where am I?_

Meiss, noticing the absence of darkness, looks around. A room with grey stone walls, flooring, and ceiling. He is bathed in a gentle purple light which illuminates the dust floating thick in the air.

"The Tomb?!"

_Then that means-_

Meiss looks to his side, where Emilia shakes and shivers under the weight of her past. Meiss is frozen, every time he blinks he can see the rippling darkness trying to consume him, with Emilia's stoic face at the center.

"No, no way that was real. The Witch was sealed away centuries ago to my knowledge. Impossible."

Then again, in being ripped from his world and placed in this one Meiss had seen many things deemed "impossible" with his own eyes. It scared Meiss that it wasn't too much of a leap to consider the Witch of Envy being able to escape. _That doesn't explain Emilia though, was she just a conduit for the Witch? What was even sealed? Was it her physical body? Or her memories?_ That was a dark train of thought, one that Meiss didn't want to look down right now in his shaken state.

Disregarding his speculation, Meiss shakes his head. _What am I even doing? I just got out of the trial, which puts the challenger to sleep. It's perfectly reasonable that was a nightmare, and I substituted Emilia for the Witch of Envy because she fits the description. God, that's an asshole-ish thing to do._

Meiss crawls over to Emilia, stopping next to her. His hand reaches out to tap her shoulder, when he stops. Meiss realises that his hand is shaking. Why wouldn't it? He just had a nightmare and his pulse is overreacting. Meiss closes the distance and taps Emilia gently on the shoulder. The half-elf shudders slightly before her eyes open slightly.

"Su… ba- Meiss?"

Emilia notices that the person before her is Meiss, and tries not to break down despite being beyond the verge of tears. Not knowing how to handle someone who is crying, Meiss sits the half-elf up and awkwardly drapes his arm around her shoulders in a sort-of half hug. Emilia cries silently, at least accepting the thoughts behind Meiss' actions.

"Y-you're shaking Meiss."

Despite trying to rationalize those shadows as a dream, Meiss can't shake the feeling that they weren't. It felt too _real_. To Meiss, the feeling of being lighter and burning hot and freezing cold and utterly terrified at the same time wasn't something his mind could fabricate in a dream. Even if it could, that feeling should have ejected him from the dream, not let him linger long enough for him to hit a tree and _die_ from the impact.

"I… Yeah I guess I am. Don’t worry though, I’m mostly fine.”

“Not entirely?”

Meiss rises. He pats himself down of dust and extends his hand to Emilia to pull her up. The two stand for a second in the trial room.

"Is it ok if I ask about the trial?"

"…I failed… Wait, how are you even here?"

Meiss debates on whether or not to tell her he got the qualifications from Echidona, then realizes he would be lying for no reason. The blonde glances around the room, noticing a wooden door on the other side that he must have not seen earlier.

"You see, when I collapsed I got a special invitation. I met the person buried here and she gave me the power to take the trial. Well, trial _s_ -"

Meiss pauses. Emilia failed her trial, and as a result of not conquering her past she is all shaken up. If Meiss were to tell her that he completed his trial that may demoralize her. So now Meiss decides to lie.

"- and I failed."

The two stand awkwardly for a second before leaving the tomb. Meiss feels his skin start to tingle and prick as they near the starlight at the end of the corridor. The blonde puts in conscious effort to slow his heartbeat and breathing before they leave the tomb.

"Emilia-sama!"(x2)

Meiss raises his head as he hears the joined voices of Rem and Ram. They both call out to Emilia when she steps out into the night and both look relieved. Meiss trails slightly behind the half-elf as they walk out of the fence's perimeter.

"Hmph, it seems that Guest-sama brought her out."

"Please learn my name. I'm Meiss."

The blonde notices Rem looking at him inquisitively. _You can see right through people, can't you?_ Meiss exhales, holding his short breath for a second, before inhaling and turning to face Garfiel and Subaru.

"Hey man."

"Th' fuck was that? You don' look like yer half-blooded."

Meiss fails to meet Garfiel's gaze, looking down and to the side. After a brief moment the blondes meet gazes again.

"I met the Witch of Greed, she's incessant when it comes to talking but gave me the qualifications on a whim."

Meiss withholds how he met a few of the other witches, thinking that wouldn't help him here. Garfiel snorts and clicks his teeth before looking away. Meiss deems that as the conversation ending and turns to Subaru, who is standing next to Emilia now.

"Hey Suba-"

_He's already looking at me._

Meiss feels his blood turn to ice for some reason. The feeling of slick life flowing down his body returns to him. Resisting the urge to puke, he meets Subaru's eyes.

_He's looking down._

Meiss stuffs his hands in his vest pockets, balling them up as tight as he can. _No._

"-ru…"

"Yeah?"

"… I don't know japanese, so what does 'Shitto no Ken'no' mean?"

"Um, 'Power of Jealousy.'"

Just like that, Meiss feels his stomach drop. It drops so far that his body falls along with it. His knees give out and his legs fold. Meiss doesn't know japanese, so it's unlikely his brain could form a phrase in the language, and it's near impossible to name the Witch of Envy's _authority_ without being told it. The blonde is saved from his meal of dirt by Subaru.

"Meiss?! What happened?"

Meiss brings his hand to his stomach, trying to ignore the repeating sound of Emilia's neck snapping from the force of his punch. His throat closes, and he has to take in gasping breaths. The blonde notices Rem kneel down next to Subaru, watching the blonde worriedly. Emilia is still overwhelmed and standing where Subaru left her.

_Is this it? The answer?_

"I n-need a m-minute."

Meiss climbs out of Subaru's arms and onto his knees, the teen next to him reaches his arms out but doesn't touch him. Meiss sways slightly, one hand holding his gut and the other holding his head. His golden hair comes down from his head and covers his face like a curtain. He feels the warm touch of a hand on his shoulder-

"GO AWAY!"

-and lashes out with his voice.

—

Subaru closes the door gently behind him. Emilia is sound asleep after succumbing to the strain of her past. When he Returned by Death, Subaru was scared that he would go back to the mansion, but instead the save point had updated to a few minutes before Meiss and Emilia got out of the tomb. A second reason he was scared is because of after he met with the witches again. After Returning by Death the question of Roswaal's Gospel was strong enough to drag him into the tea party again. There, he revealed his power of Return by Death to Echidna. After waking up, Subaru found that the Witch of Envy had started to swallow the world as punishment for him revealing his power. Subaru wasn't sure that the Witch would give up after one death, so seeing Emilia was a huge relief.

_So what happened to Meiss? He was the one to come out of the tomb looking weird. He stumbled around and collapsed after asking me-_

Subaru snapped his eyes open.

_Meiss is American, he even told me he doesn't know japanese. So why would he…_

Subaru spun around in the small living room, glancing out the windows. After what happened outside the tomb, Meiss had run off into the woods. Subaru was worried about him, but Emilia was his first priority.

As quickly but also as quietly as he could, Subaru opened the door and closed it behind him. He ran out into the middle of Sanctuary before spinning around again. He had no idea where the blonde could have gone. The woods around Sanctuary were large and would take an entire day to search through only a portion. Subaru turned to face the direction of the tomb. Meiss had run off from the tomb, so checking the direction where he ran off would be Subaru's best bet.

—

Alone, Meiss sat. His shoes and socks lay next to him as he dipped his feet into the stream next to him. Acedia lazily waved under the water, turning the stream into steam. The blonde breathed in the warm, calming air and shifted his weight.

"That… was quicker… than I thought."

Beside the blonde, Subaru stepped out of the foliage. He was breathing heavy and sweating, as if he had been running. Meiss ran his hand through his hair and brushed it over his head. That annoying lock of hair draped over Meiss' face as he turned to face Subaru.

"I think I figured you out."

"… Nanidato?"

Meiss sways his foot in the stream, prompting more steam to rush out.

"A 'loop,' is what you can do. It's not just that you can redo actions or conversations. It's that you loop back to a previous point in time."

Meiss stands up in the stream, waving his hands to try and disperse the steam. When he has a clear line of sight, he looks Subaru directly in the eyes.

"How many times have you died?"

Subaru freezes under the weight of this question. _What? He knows?_

"That expression you're wearing… I only know because the Witch of Envy forced the knowledge upon me before ripping out my insides."

_He not only knows, but he can remember? The Witch of Envy, the entity that had gifted Shi ni Modori, made an amendment and let him remember?_

"Your mind is probably exploding, so is mine. You mentioned earlier that the Arlam villagers are leaving bright and early tomorrow, and that you weren't permitted to leave. What about me? Assuming that you've already died a few times, what would happen if I stayed to help with the trial and the rabbit?"

Subaru, having his mind implode, takes a moment to process that Meiss is trying to think of solutions to the problems surrounding Sanctuary. His mind flashes back to Meiss fighting Garfiel, the agony of his leg and the suffocating weight of the thrown dirt.

"You should leave, The furthest I got was the first time here, about a week after arriving here without you. After one week is when the Ousagi will attack. Right now that's the only limiting factor."

Meiss puts a hand to his chin, contemplating the things that can be done and the things that have been forgotten. If Subaru is the only one with knowledge of loops before the most recent one, then his word is the strongest when it comes to what to do. If the guy says to leave, then Meiss will.

Sighing, Meiss lowers his hand from his chin and steps onto dry land.

"I'm going to go get something to eat and say sorry to everybody."

Subaru watches his back leave towards Sanctuary. _That's a lot to process. There are a few big things I passed over, like Roswaal having a Gospel. The witch's tea party let me calm down about that but I still should try and limit interactions with him to make sure I don't do anything that would waste a life._

—

"Haaaaah."

Meiss lowers his head after leaning out of a carriage. The wind blows through his hair gently and feels rather nice. The blonde is in the first carriage, and Garfiel is running closer, seems like he wants to talk about something.

"Hey Blondie. Mind chattin'?"

"Chat away, Garfiel."

Garfiel hops onto the back of the carriage, walking to be next to Meiss before he leans on the carriage railing.

"Im'na be real frank with ya, as clear as mornin' dew. Ya made a good impression on me when ya jumped'n to defend yer friends, but my amazin' self has a good nose so I thought to let ya know."

Meiss looks to Garfiel, rising to stand next to the boy.

"What is it, Garfiel."

"Ya stink."

"Wuh?"

Raising his arm, Meiss takes a whiff and smells nothing unpleasant. Garfiel rears back and starts laughing.

"HA HA HA… No 's nothin' like that. It's a peculiar stink; of the Witch. Be grateful that only my amazin' self has a nose this strong."

Weirdly, Garfiel pauses after saying that. He scratches his head in confusion as if what he said didn't feel right. Meiss widens his eyes before closing them swiftly. _Rem has a good nose too, is that why he's so confused?_

"When did this stink first come to your attention?"

"When ya left th' tomb."

_So that means it's linked to looping. This may be a problem if looping is used too much around those with strong noses. Not like I like dying, just the first time was good enough._

"Well, thank you for telling me. Must be a result of talking to the Witch of Greed after my trial, peculiar person."

"Hmm, tha's interesting…"

Garfiel hops off the carriage and continues to run in silence. Meiss looks away from the boy's form and thinks about looping. _That question I asked Subaru earlier about how many times he's died… Was probably insensitive. It's definitely more than three at least. Man, where does he get the strength to stand after that much pain?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find the Witch intimidating to write. I also put down periods in case her zalgo overlapped words


	19. Good Days, Good Fun

Meiss mulls around Arlam village's well. He doesn't know anybody here, and nobody here knows him, so there's no reason to stick around. Yet Meiss stays, he doesn't know why. Is it because he likes to see people happy? The families reunited and friends once more together does bring a smile to his face. Regardless, he had better get going to the mansion before nightfall.

Meiss straightens from leaning on the well and makes his way through the crowd. He hears a few comments about who he is and what he's doing here but ignores them. It takes a bit because the area is so tightly packed, but Meiss is able to squeeze his way through the crowd. He heaves a sigh of relief, only to realize he needs to go the opposite direction. Scoffing, the blonde forgoes trying to worm his way through the crowd again and instead goes around.

"Hey, hey!"

Meiss hears a child calling out behind him. Thinking the child is talking to somebody else, Meiss continues to walk. He is surprised when a short kid with brown hair in a ponytail steps in front of him with his arms spread.

"You live at that mansion, right?"

"Yeeeees?"

"My friend went over there for something! Can you tell her that we miss her?!"

"… Sure."

Shaking his head, Meiss watches the kid run off to a group of other kids. Meiss thinks for a second. _Why would a village kid be at the Roswaal mansion?_ Meiss continues to walk, finding the road that leads to the mansion and starting down it's path. The walk is fifteen or sixteen minutes, the average time it takes to walk about one mile. It's calm and serene.

Meiss slowly opens the gate to the Roswaal mansion's expansive yard. When he starts to climb the steps to the building itself, the wooden doors open. On the other side is the tall blonde maid, Frederica. Meiss dimly notices her hair color is the same as Garfiel's sandy blonde.

"I was not expecting you back so soon, Meiss-sama."

"Well, Subaru managed to convince them to release the Arlam villagers from Sanctuary yesterday, since they have Emilia who can take that trial."

"It seems that things have been progressing nicely."

Meiss shrugs, completing his ascension up the stairs.

"There were some things I didn't like, and I never actually got to talk to Roswaal about becoming an official resident. But that's stuff I can't really change now. I'm curious why he didn't send Rem back as well though."

"An interesting thing to bring up. Despite meeting her mere days ago I feel as if I've known her for years… What is wrong, Meiss-sama? You have a pained expression."

The blonde maid instantly spots the expression Meiss wears after she mentions the familiar feeling Rem gives off. Meiss clenches his hands in his vest pockets, the nails digging into his palms. He tries to calm his expression, yet it seems the small crease of his brows will be unchanging.

"Sorry, It's not something I wish to discuss. Rem and I had a bad experience together once, but there's nothing we could do about it currently."

Frederica nods, and follows Meiss inside the mansion, closing the door behind her. Frederica mentions that he arrived at the perfect time for dinner, and that it is almost ready. Meiss says that he will wait in the dining room since he has nothing to do currently.

It hasn't even been a minute when a child's voice echoes into Meiss' ears.

"F-frederica nee-sama, can you open the door? I don't want to bash it open with the cart…"

Meiss turns his head to see Frederica's hand open a door and a cart be pushed out. The owner of the child's voice and the one pushing the cart is a little ginger girl around the same age as that kid in the village. She pushes the cart near Meiss and pulls a platter off of it. She sets it down on the table and takes the lid off, revealing a perfectly portioned potato-meat stew with a few assorted roasted greens and vegetables.

"Oh wow, I never thought greens could look so appetizing."

"Thank you Guest-sama! I cooked this meal myself!"

Frederica walks up next to the ginger girl and pulls a plate and utensils from the cart.

"This is Petra Leyte, she began working at the mansion yesterday after you left. I am in the process of determining how good she is at cleaning, cooking, and other jobs that us maids have."

"Well, cooking is a passing grade, as far as presentation goes. My name is Meiss, pleasure to meet you."

Meiss accepts the fork from Frederica and shakes Petra's hand awkwardly with the other.

"We weren't expecting anyone today, so the usual tableware was not set."

"It's fine, I don't mind; oh yeah, a kid in Arlam Village was telling me that he missed you."

Petra smiles as Frederica looms over her. Meiss feels kind of scared of the blonde maid for some reason.

"You can visit your friends when buying groceries and seeing your parents."

Meiss doesn't notice Petra's smile widen, or her hug Frederica. He doesn't see Frederica geek out at her big-sister status. No, what Meiss' icy eyes spot is the red dress of a spirit. Beatrice slowly walks parallel to the room's door, glancing inside. Meiss sees her face lose the glimmer of interest when she doesn't spot what she wants to see. She leaves, and Meiss wonders who she was looking for.

—

Meiss is opening doors.

After seeing Beatrice act so weirdly, Meiss couldn't leave her like that. He politely ate his dinner with the maids and excused himself to look for the spirit. Under the pretense that he is going to teach her element stuff, Meiss wants to cheer her up.

"Hey Beatrice, Emilia got private lessons from me. I'm here to ask forgiveness."

A door slams open, nearly taking the blonde's head with it.

"Forgiveness won't come even if you grovel and teach Betty more, I suppose."

Meiss grasps the door handle, and closes the door behind him. This is the second time he has entered the forbidden library. The smell of old books is not one that Meiss finds pleasant, but he can ignore it. Beatrice sits regally upon her stool, reading a book unproportionate to her size. She closes the book and sets it on a table next to her.

"So…"

Meiss pulls the color-coded periodic table from his pocket and unfolds it. Then he flips it around so that Beatrice can't see it. Meiss smirks when she makes a noise of surprise.

"First ten elements, go."

"Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, and Neon I suppose."

"Good, good. Are you confident in not just those ten, but the entire table if you needed to repeat it?"

"You underestimate Betty, she will remember everything she learns in fact."

Meiss flips the paper around and walks up to place it on the table next to Beatrice. Along with the periodic table, Meiss produces another folded paper. He unfolds the paper and places it next to the periodic table. Beatrice looks at it briefly before asking what it is.

"I have a lesson plan with this coming afterwards, but it's ok to jump around sometimes. I hate to ask favors but you're the only one capable of doing this. It's a weapon, plain and simple, made with a manganese alloy that will compensate for the drawbacks of the pure metal. I wouldn't trust anyone but the all-powerful Beatrice to make it."

The spirit looks at the design for a second, taking in the measurements and alloy composition.

"Hmph, don't get used to asking favors of Betty. I'll do this but then that's it! The only reason I've been humoring you thus far is because the mana you leak is quite tasty I suppose."

"… Thanks?"

"Now shoo, shoo! Betty has some planning to do in fact!"

As his feet drag across the floor, Meiss calls out.

"But the lesson! Basic compounds and more electron configuration! Basic compouuunnnds!"

The force pushes Meiss out of the forbidden archive. He stares at the door for a second. It wasn't his intent to suddenly press work upon the spirit and leave, but that's what ended up happening. In the end, Meiss isn't even sure he improved her mood, the small spirit is hard to understand.

—

Last night concluded without any other issues. Deciding not to try and bother her, Meiss doesn't look for Beatrice and bids Frederica and Petra goodnight. A knock at his door is what wakes Meiss.

"Meiss-sama? Why are you sleeping with a time crystal next to your head?"

Meiss slips his hand out from under the bed and grabs the humming crystal. He retracts his hand and the crystal disappears under the covers. Ignoring Petra's expression, Meiss sits up in the bed.

"While I'm thankful you knocked small child, could you do that without entering my room first? You could see something that could scar you for life, like me mumbling about metal in my sleep or hugging a time crystal."

She leaves quickly.

After thoroughly weirding out the small maid, Meiss continues with his day. He eats breakfast in his room while practicing his writing and reading, then goes to the bath and curses every deity for denying him such a spacious bath his entire life. He devotes a lot of energy to that. Then Meiss walks down into the mansion's yard with a log. Even though he had them made, Meiss isn't confident in his throwing skills. So he spends a good portion of time practicing his accuracy with the manganese flechettes.

He spends about an hour practicing his throwing because he has nothing better to do. Meiss has no one to spar with and doesn't want to ask Frederica because she has work, so Meiss doesn't do much with his authority. After his arm tires, the blonde decides to further familiarize himself with the mansion, but before he can begin the self-tour he is stopped by Frederica.

"Would you mind if we talked for a minute?"

"No, not really. But can it wait until after lunch? I was going to help Beatrice with something."

"Sure, whenever is most convenient for you today."

The blonde maid continues to walk down the hall. _Wonder what that was about?_ Meiss thinks that she may instate him as an official member of the land, if she has the power. Maybe she is just going to kick him out, since he has been freeloading and doesn't seem to be changing or doing anything productive.

Meiss is able to locate the forbidden archive, and gives Beatrice some pointers on the weapon. She once more shoos him out when he finishes talking. The lunch was good, a good meal made with good ingredients but not something memorable. Might have been either gourmet sandwiches or some succulent fish.

Meiss finishes without any issues and Petra takes his plate. Frederica stays behind, making sure that the door to the kitchen is closed before turning back to Meiss. She calmly brings her arms in front of her and puts her closed fists together. Blue and red light emanate from the gates on her hands. After the light show, two gloves appear on her hands, like boxing gloves with spikes. Meiss inclines his head to them.

"Insurance. Ever since you returned from Sanctuary you have smelled of the Witch."

"This again… You're more perceptive than Garfiel so blaming it on Echidna won't work."

Frederica shifts when Garfiel is mentioned. _Interesting. She must know him. They must be at least acquaintances, though I'm betting more than that_. She settles quickly, giving him a hard stare.

"The truth is, I have an Authority of Sin."

This gets Frederica riled up. She pulls her arms back a little bit and steps back to open distance. Meiss raises his hands, showing in the universal way he means no harm.

"Ah, that's expected. Honestly though, I would have done something already if I wanted to. You think I would fight off two other Archbishops and the Hakugei if I was plotting something? Not to mention I've had plenty of opportunities to nab or stab Emilia."

Frederica lowers her arms a small bit. Unlike the time with Ferris and Wilhelm where the emotion of the exchange confirmed Meiss having no ill-will, emotions are not high here and Frederica is a thinker. She isn't totally convinced, but lowers her guard and the gloves retreat back into her fire and water gates.

"Just know that I'm watching you, Meiss-sama."

"Cautious. That means you're good at your job."

"… Thank you."

—

_The applications are large in not just weaponry._

Meiss is sitting in his room. He has nothing better to do, so he is thinking about chemistry.

 _Weaponized gas, explosive powder, irritants. There's also preservatives, medicine, and materials for goods_. Meiss shakes his head, he had decided to preserve this historic world by not introducing that much technology from beyond the waterfall, so most of that is a no-go. Meiss starts thinking again about similarities in substances between the worlds.

"Though magic can heal wounds, I don't know if it does anything for sickness. Having simple medicine would help. Explosives as well, the similarity would be the elemental stones. I don't know the strength of a single fire crystal, but I would guess it's roughly equivalent to a common stick of dynamite. It's a shame I never delved as deep into chemistry as my Grandpa, I would know a lot more about chemical structure."

"Huh! He really is talking about weird things!"

"P-Petra?!"

Meiss turns around in his seat to see Petra poking her head around his door. The small maid tilts her head before opening the door wider and knocking.

"It's too late to knock now!"

"Ehh? No it's not, weirdo. Anyways dinner is ready."

Meiss stands up and walks out of the room, ignoring Petra's comment and closing the door behind him. The maid and archbishop walk side-by-side down the hall silently. Meiss has his hands in his pant pockets, having discarded his vest in his room.

"So Meiss-sama… Why are you here?"

Meiss tilts his head to Petra's question. Why is he here?

"Well, I'm a teenager that decided to tag along with Subaru on a whim. We have something in common that nobody else- no two things in common actually that nobody else has."

Petra walks quietly for a second before turning to Meiss. Her lips curve up slightly as she begins speaking.

"Hmm, regardless of your similarities, you couldn't hope to compare to Subaru-sama's achievements. He saved Arlam village from the Witch Cult and… and saved me from a pack of rabid wulgarm by himself."

The small maid turns away after her brief pause in the sentence, though Meiss can see her face take on a shade of pink. This makes the blonde scrunch up his face when he realises how far Subaru reaches. With his face hidden from Petra's view, she doesn't see the emotion in Meiss. It takes a second to process how good Subaru is with people, to this extent even, but Meiss unsticks his face and thinks about her words. _Saved her from a pack of wulgarm. Wulgarm are a type of demonbeast if I'm not mistaken._ Despite the irregularity of this feat and Subaru's strength, Meiss turns to his one option.

"OooOoo, do you like~ him?"

Despite her short stature and thin frame, Petra is strong. Meiss learns of this fact when she delivers a kick to his shin so hard that the bone shatters and the resulting shockwave shatters every window in the Roswaal mansion and beyond. At least that's what it feels like to Meiss.

"AHH!"

His leg is pulled out from under him unconsciously, trying to distance itself from what inflicted pain. As a result, Meiss has no foot to put forward and sails gracefully into the ground, hitting a decorative table and knocking over a vase. Meiss tries to reach out with acedia to catch the pottery, but misses and the vase shatters against the floor.

Meiss takes in air between his teeth as he holds his shin, trying not to cry. It definitely didn't hurt as much as getting his arm shredded or having his abdomen turned inside out, but it was pretty close since she hit the bone and not muscle.

"FU-there's a child-GOD! OW. It's really going to happen! I swear I'm going to go into self isolation! OW!"

"Woah! What's this cool thing?"

Meiss looks up to see Petra poking his acedia and looking at it in awe. The blonde wonders how she can go from wanting to murder him to staring transfixed in less than a second. Footsteps sound, the little maid snaps to attention when Frederica rounds the corner.

"What happened to Meiss-sama?"

"Uhm-"

"I hit the table, sorry about the vase, Frederica."

Frederica looks at the acedia sprouting from Meiss for a second. Then she glances at the shattered pot for a second before sighing. Meiss rubs his shin.

"Mhm… Petra, please go and replace the pottery. Hurry back or your food will get cold."

"Yes, Frederica nee-sama."

The blonde maid turns around and walks back around the corner, returning to the kitchen. Meiss writhes on the floor for a few seconds more before standing up. He leans on the table to support himself in place of his leg. Looking down, Meiss sees the shattered vase. Petra walks down the hall to get something to clean it with.

When the girl returns, Meiss shoos her away to go get a replacement while cleaning up the pottery himself. It doesn't take long for her to return, but Meiss is already done cleaning by the time she gets back. They trade broken pottery and not broken pottery since Meiss doesn't know where to put the shards.

"Why did you cover for me Meiss-sama? You should have told Frederica nee-sama I kicked you."

"Ehh… I deserved that for teasing you. Anyways let's go, the food is getting cold."

The two walk together the rest of the way to the kitchen, except for Petra taking a small detour to dispose of the broken vase. They enter the kitchen together and see Frederica at her usual spot next to the lord's chair. Petra runs up to stand next to her and Meiss sits down at the table. Steak, salad, and rice.

"Potatoes are good, but I really should give other food a chance. Other food can be just as good as potatoes."

Meiss picks up his fork to begin eating, then thinks of something.

"Hey Frederica?"

"Yes, Meiss-sama?"

"I never told you what I wanted to drink, so would it be a bother to get me some water please?"

"Not at all."

_Blegh, major dislike of ordering people around like that. I could get myself water…_

Meiss eyes Beatrice's plate for a second. Then he swaps his plate with the spirit's. It was just a silly suspicion, but Frederica is a thinker. If anything… Beatrice wouldn't be affected by poison. Meiss feels guilty for swapping plates, but after dropping the archbishop bomb he wouldn't put it past anybody. Meiss looks over to Petra, who watched him swap the plates. _Crap, what if she says something?_

"Your water, Meiss-sama."

Frederica returns to the room and delivers Meiss his water. She then returns to her position just as Beatrice enters the room. The spirit looks over the dining room before crossing her arms.

"Hmph, those idiots haven't returned from that place yet? So irritating in fact."

"Do you miss them?"

"I… want to see nii-chan… I suppose."

_I want to poke fun at why she paused, but that would be pressing my luck probably. She isn't honest about anything._

Beatrice pulls out her chair and sits down. She lazily spears a piece of tomato with her fork and pops it into her mouth. Meiss chews on a piece of steak as he thinks of a few questions for the spirit.

"We went over electron configuration briefly after we made rhenium, right?"

"Betty remembers it all in fact. S, P, D, and F, I suppose."

"Mind sparing the brainpower for element thirty-two?"

Beatrice cuts up a piece of meat and chews on it before responding.

"Germanium I suppose, P block."

"Good, goo-"

"Hey Meiss-sama, would you mind speaking in our language?"

Meiss turns his head to Petra. She stares back at him, either oblivious or ignoring Frederica's stern look at her side. Meiss continues to stare at her.

"Riddle me this small child, if somebody has ten grams of oxygen gas and excess hydrogen gas, how many moles of hydroxylic acid would be theoretically produced?"

"Uh, uh… Gram?"

_That deer-in-headlights look Petra has is one of the best things I have ever seen._

Meiss calmly places a tomato in his mouth as he watches Petra. Frederica is looking at him weirdly. Well, he _did_ just spout some incomprehensible babble along the lines of what your average insane person would say in this world.

"Hydrox…lick… HOW WOULD ANYONE KNOW THIS STUFF!?"

"Come on, a ninth-grader could do this!"

"Nine? Grader… nine… year? A-A NINE YEAR OLD COULD UNDERSTAND THAT?!"

Meiss comfortably leans back in his chair. Beatrice looks like she's about to laugh at Petra's suffering. Frederica stands as still as a statue.

_This is nice._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh


	20. Best Experienced Never

Routine.

This is a thing Meiss hasn't had since those first five days with Eura. It feels nice in all honesty. It has been another three days since returning from Sanctuary, making this six days after arriving in Sanctuary and five days after coming back to the Roswaal mansion.

Meiss has a questionable amount of fun and his desire to learn is sated by messing with this world's unique substances. The antics of "big sis" Frederica and Petra are a constant source of humor since Petra is still learning. Meiss got permission from Frederica to mess around with stable magic stones, ones that wouldn't explode and are for commercial use. When he isn't practicing his throwing with the manganese knives, he is helping Beatrice with that project. He also started his running back up again, two laps around the mansion after dinner. It would take a while to get back to where he was before he was transported here.

Speaking of the project, it was coming along nicely and would be done by sundown today. I know I'm referring to this project super vaguely, but it's not anything big like a gun or something. It's a simple shortsword, a xiphos made of a manganese alloy. A xiphos is a short, single-handed ancient greek weapon usually used as a side to a spear. Meiss chose the weapon for it's use in both thrusting and slashing, as well as short size that would make handling easy.

Meiss also enjoys experimenting and messing around with the elemental crystals. Finding the lowest temperature that water crystals will go to, trying to set up a fan-like system with a wind crystal, and nearly blinding himself with a light crystal. His agenda consists of finding out what earth crystals even do, if he can charge mana crystals by just leaking his mana all over the place, and trying to make time crystals more precise. He also wonders what would happen if he broke a time crystal, but decides against it in case it has negative reactions.

Maybe if he had the resources and the know-how he could find out what they are made of. Meiss is really stumped with this one cause it could just as well be something simple like new elements or perhaps a combination of elements in existing knowledge.

Meiss huffs at the powdered assortment of elemental crystals in a cup on his desk. He had mashed up one of each four element crystals and put the powder into a cup. He then tried to melt them by sticking acedia into the cup, but found that they sublimated directly into gas. In case the fumes were toxic, Meiss had prepared a small wind crystal and activated it to blow the fumes out his open window. He then set the cup on the window sill and left it there. Meiss sits down on his bed, looking at the wind crystal in his palm. It sucks that he has to have other people charge the crystals since his gate can't circulate mana properly, but being able to power the regular crystals would mean he wouldn't need to rely on others to help him.

Meiss activates the wind crystal again, relishing the omni-directional blast of wind. Making a directional blast of sustained wind was his goal in trying to make a fan, unfortunately, each wind crystal activation only results in a short blast of wind. Setting up a system in which a mana crystal feeds the wind crystal slowly is his thought process and what fed the desire to see if his leaking mana could be absorbed passively by the crystal like a sponge.

Meiss turns his head to the window. The sun is no longer visible. Meiss then looks at the time crystal. It's the latter parts of lunar time, but not early enough to go to bed yet.

"Might as well see if the mansion has any regular lagmite."

—

Meiss stretches as he walks down the hall in sleepwear. The crystal storage is near where the main bath is. Frederica told him that they also store volatile elemental lagmite that is depleted of mana, but she didn't tell him where. Meiss didn't expect to be told of the volatile lagmite's existence, much less location.

Meiss yawns into his hand. _I might just hit the sack after getting the rock, not like I need to do anything other than be in the room for the experiment_. Meiss usually has trouble sleeping, but that seems to have been getting better. His sleep schedule is still messed-up though, so until he adapts fully to it he will be tired even after sleeping for a healthy amount. It's around eight P.M. beyond-the-waterfall time. Meiss' footsteps echo off the walls, but they aren't loud since there is a rug. The blonde absentmindedly looks out the window and turns to face it.

"Wow, the moon sure is beautiful tonight."

Meiss stares at the silvery surface for a second before he remembers what that phrase means. He lowers his head and closes his eyes, slapping his cheeks.

"God, when did I even learn about that Japanese phrase? Not like I'll need to be using it."

Meiss pinches his cheeks and opens his eyes. His lowered head leaves his eyes staring at the treeline beyond the Roswaal mansion's yard. A shadow moves suddenly, and Meiss' breath hitches. _No…_ He clutches his left arm and takes a closer look, his heart calms down.

"It's just a dog thing…"

Meiss turns and starts walking down the hallway again. _Petra said something about wulgarm in the forest around Arlam village. Maybe some of that pack survived? I should tell Frederica about it so one of us can take care of it. If I remember correctly, she should be finishing up work._

Meiss exaggerates his gait because he is bored and walks in silence the rest of the way to the mansion's lobby. The worker's quarters are on the opposite side of the mansion from the guest's quarters. The guest and worker's quarters take up one upstairs wing each, while the main and secondary baths, kitchen, dining room, pottery storage, and lagmite storage take up the bottom. Many of these rooms are large, excluding the lagmite storage which takes up as much room as one of the guest rooms.

Meiss spots the staircase that leads down to the lobby with the mansion's main entrance. He just needs to walk around it and continue on his way. If Frederica isn't at her room already she will be soon and Meiss can tell her then. Meiss runs his hand along the railing that protects against falling down the stairs. _It smells like iron._ It was an unpleasant smell, reminding Meiss of-

"Blood…?"

Meiss looks at his hand, slick with red. He looks behind him to see blood dripping down the railing and onto the floor. Meiss stops breathing in shock. His heartbeat, a sound that is only missed when it's gone, roars in his ears as he looks over the railing.

"FREDERICA!"

The blonde maid is lying on her stomach, blood staining the carpets around her in the murals of life. Meiss vaults over the railing, activating stagno to insure he didn't hurt himself with the fall. He runs to her and slips on the rug, splashing the maid's blood as he splays his hands out and folds his legs to kneel next to her. Meiss flips Frederica over and checks her neck for a pulse.

"Oh shit!"

Meiss can't use healing magic, even if his affinity was water his dysfunctional gate would shatter him. His only option is to go about this with his scant medical knowledge.

Meiss searches for the source of Frederica's bleeding, finding a wedge cut from her abdomen and intestines slipping out. Meiss doesn't think, stuffing Frederica's insides back inside and using acedia to melt the skin together. Dolorem active, Meiss picks the dying maid up bridal-style and runs to the kitchen, where Meiss knows bandages and such are stored.

"Beatrice! _Please_ open a door!"

Meiss yells out to Beatrice as he runs. Holding someone over half a foot taller than you bridal-style and trying to run is not easy. Meiss would have slung Frederica over his shoulder, but is worried that would hurt her more.

 _Tap_.

Meiss whirls around, certain he heard a footstep behind him. He breathes for a second, before sprinting the rest of the way to the kitchen. The blonde kicks the door in and puts Frederica on the kitchen's island. He throws open the drawers and cabinets looking for something, anything that would ease pain or help him in any way. _Plants, spices, herbs, how the hell were those used in medicine?_ Meiss snaps open another drawer.

"Gurrr."

Meiss reacts instinctively, grabbing a paring knife from the knife block and hurling it at the noise. The blonde hears an animal yelp as he turns to face it. It's that dog thing Meiss saw out by the treeline, though now that the thing is closer it's more of a hyena-looking thing. The hyena wobbles for a second, the short knife sticking out of it's side. Meiss springs over just as the demon beast jumps at Frederica. He shoves his fist into the beast's mouth. Acedia bursts from his fist and cooks the hyena's head.

 _If these things are in the mansion, I need to find Petra and get her and Frederica into Beatrice's library. There they'll be safe and Frederica can get healed_. Meiss looks over his shoulder, Frederica is still alive. Her face is pained and she's covered in blood, but she is breathing. Even if the breathing is shallow she is breathing. Meiss pulls the hyena off his arm and moves closer to Frederica. He faces the door in case any more of those hyena things are around.

"What should I do? I can't move fast with her, but I need to find Petra! Shit shit shi-"

"Go…"

Meiss spins around and locks eyes with Frederica. She points to the door, her arm not even rising from the table.

"Petra…"

Meiss grasps her hand in both of his. He tries to talk, but can't. Meiss lulls his head, gripping Frederica's hand a little tighter. Eventually he is able to cough up a few words. To nobody, he whispers to himself.

"How am I supposed to be a sanctuary when I can't protect a single person?"

"For Petra… definitely."

Meiss slackens his grip on Frederica's hand. The slick blood stains his fingers. Meiss raises his head.

"Please, wait a little longer. You want to see her face again, right?"

Frederica gives Meiss a knowing look. _She's lost too much blood, there's nothing I can do without healing magic_. Meiss lets go of her hand entirely. Frederica relaxes her head as Meiss dashes from the kitchen.

"Protect…"

Frederica closes her eyes.

—

"PETRA! BEATRICE!"

Meiss' feet hit the ground in rapid succession as he runs down the hallway. He had left Frederica in the kitchen, dying covered in her own blood. Meiss' heart quivers, but he _needs_ to find Petra and get her out of here.

"PET-"

"Meiss!"

Meiss skids to a stop, nearly falling as he tries to change direction. He rises to his feet and spots Petra leaning out from behind a door. Meiss runs over and throws open the door, noticing the racks of spare pottery behind the small maid. Meiss extends his hand.

"C'mon small child, we've gotta get out of here."

Petra extends her hand, and Meiss hoists her into his arms. The girl is small, unlike Frederica who is over eight inches taller than Meiss, so he can comfortably scoop her into his arms and run. Run is just what Meiss does, he runs and calls out to Beatrice. Curled into Meiss' arms, Petra notices the blood staining his shirt and lower pant legs.

"Whose blood is that…?"

"Gah! I-it's Frederica's. I'm soo sorry Petra…"

"F-frederica…"

Meiss tries to ignore the silent crying of the girl in his arms, focusing on running. He ends up meeting the end of the hall, and scrambles up the side stairwell. He bursts into the hallway known as the worker's quarters.

"BEATRI-"

"Now, now, why are we so noisy?"

Meiss slows to a stop. Petra tries to sink deeper into his arms. The sudden silence lets Meiss hear the beating of his heart and the sobbing of Petra. He holds the girl tighter, his eyes glinting in the moonlight.

"Were those your footsteps I heard behind me?"

"Mmm, perceptive."

Meiss stares unblinking, for the woman before him is not someone he knows. Her height is a little shorter than Subaru's, but she is still taller than Meiss. She has braided black hair and a cloak that covers her entire body. It looks like a thin fabric, if it was day they would probably be able to see through it. Purple feathers decorate the top of the cloak, framing a round face with sleepy eyes. She puts a hand on her hip, revealing her black, skin-tight attire that shows off more skin than most people would probably be comfortable revealing. The real blood-boiling thing though, is the bloody kukri in her hand.

"Interesting toy you've got there."

"Oh this? It's a personal favorite of mine, clean and precise. This'll go straight to your beautiful insides. As for you… You don't match anyone described to me. Oh well, the more carefully you scheme, the more unexpected events come along."

The woman raises her kukri, spreading the cloak and revealing her figure. If she wasn't a murderer with Frederica's blood on her weapons, Meiss would probably have some trouble because her outfit really leaves nothing to the imagination. She raises a second kukri as well, completing a battle stance that Meiss questions the usefulness of.

"Ah, before this, mind telling me your name? It's common courtesy to know the name of someone you're going to beat the shit out of."

"Hehe, I'm Elsa Granhiert, though some call me the guthunter. I wish to extend the same courtesy to you as well before I take a look at your insides. It'll give them more flavor."

"Meiss Rhen, I don't really have an alias I'm comfortable with, and it's not a pleasure to meet you."

WIthout skipping a beat, Meiss activates dolorem and tries to jump past Elsa. He hears a whoosh of air and finds the woman right in front of him.

"Fast!"

Meiss flips in the air. He strikes out with his foot, only for Elsa to dodge and strike him with her kukris. The blades bounce off his arm, but one of them nicks Petra's upper arm. Meiss lands on his feet, with Elsa in front of him again. Meiss stares her down, their eyes glinting blue and purple in the moonlight.

_She's fast, I can't fight with Petra in my arms and I can't put her down. Remember Meiss, focus on protecting rather than fighting._

"You've got me in check. Do you even have chess in this world? Doesn't matter, since this isn't checkmate."

Meiss activates dolorem once again in his legs and jumps at the window. He curls his body around Petra to protect her from the glass. Looking up, Meiss sends an acedia out that snags on part of the mansion wall. Petra screams in his arms as they swing up and over the mansion. Meiss reaches out with his legs. They touch the mansion's roof and he skids over the surface. Their slide almost sends them off the other side of the roof, but Meiss flailing about with his legs stops them in time. The two breathe for a second before Meiss uncurls from around Petra.

"Holy shit…"

Meiss looks out over the mansion yard. Those hyena things… There's so many of them he can't even see the grass anymore. They're all just… standing there. Milling around, waiting. It makes no sense. Petra removes herself from Meiss' arms and stares out at the sea of demonbeasts.

"Meiss-sa… What are we going to do?"

Meiss tries to get his breathing and heartbeat under control. He backs away from the edge of the roof, pulling Petra with him. Meiss turns to face the ginger girl. _She's so scared, she's shaking. I'm shaking. We can't jump off, the fall would hurt Petra even if I had stagno active, not even mentioning the demonbeasts. Acedia isn't long enough to reach any trees and swing us to safety. So our only option is either to wait here or look for Beatrice again. Why was she not opening her doors? Shit, this situation is fucked any way I look at it._

"Our best bet is to find Beatrice and get you safe in her moving library. I know it's kind of mean, but I can't fight with you in my arms and I don't want to just leave you."

"I…"

Meiss pulls Petra into a hug. The small maid cries into his shoulder.

"Frederica… Frederica nee-sama…"

Meiss feels his throat close again. The blonde really does value people, more than himself even. They stay like that for a small bit, Petra crying and Meiss feeling like shit for letting someone die. The blonde breaks the hug, looking down as Petra continues to cry. She's not crying as hard now, but her sobs still hit Meiss like gunshots.

"I never asked about you… We can stay up here if you want."

"N-no, let's find Beatrice-sama."

Meiss tightens his lips and stands up. He extends his hand to Petra, who grabs it. Meiss hoists the maid into his arms again and looks at the roof below him. An acedia sprouts from the back of his wrist and carves a hole in the roof. The roof tiles crack and shatter under the intense heat, before they begin to fall as acedia melts through their support. A hole, wide enough for Meiss to jump down, is opened. Meiss jumps down, the shattered, cracked, and melted tiles scraping against one another as his bare feet impact them.

_That was kind of noisy._

"Beatrice?"

Meiss calls out softly for the spirit. He doesn't want to alert that Elsa woman or any other demonbeasts that may have gotten inside to his and Petra's presence. Meiss looks both ways down the deserted hallway before calling out again.

"Beatrice? I know you can hear me."

A couple doors down, Meiss can hear the creaking of hinges. Meiss turns his head to see Beatrice cracking open a door. The door opens wider as Meiss runs to it, Beatrice gripping the handle. Meiss starts to let Petra down when they are a few meters away from the library.

"GAH!"

And the blonde falls. He feels a piercing cold lance through his abdomen as he throws Petra the rest of the way.

"Meiss-sama!"

Beatrice casts a spell on the girl and she floats into the library. Beatrice extends her hand, reaching for Meiss. Meiss feels blood drip down his side as he struggles to his knees.

"NO! Keep her in the library, I can deal with this woman!"

"You idiot! She'll kill you in fact!"

"Just do it, please!"

Beatrice looks conflicted for a second, before closing the door. Meiss hears Petra yell in protest behind her.

"Sooo valiant, I look forward to you more and more."

Meiss struggles to a standing position. He turns to face the woman down the hall. Not taking his eyes off of her, Meiss uses a hand to find out what happened to him. It feels like a stick has made it's way through part of his body. Meiss' hand feels the cold, smooth feeling of metal. It's some sort of throwing dart. _Moving around with the point inside me would suck, but I can't pull it out since that would leave me with a hole. Damn, if only acedia worked on me, I could melt the hole shut._ Meiss holds his breath and grits his teeth, before pushing the long dart the rest of the way through his body.

_This sucks._

"Mmm… Interesting."

Elsa settles into that useless-looking battle stance from before. Meiss releases his held breath. The blonde starts breathing hard after holding his breath like that, he doesn't take his eyes off of Elsa. He can't… because her speeding form is now right in front of him, filling his vision.

"Guh?!"

Meiss raises his arm. The woman's twin kukris impact him, sending him spiraling into the wall. He is quick to recover, though not quick enough. Elsa dashes at him again, leaving him to catch her kukri on his forearm again. Meiss strikes out with an arm. His impaled abdomen impedes his twisting movements, and the assassin easily dodges by jumping. Meiss jumps as well, he cannons into Elsa and they hit the ceiling. Meiss strikes out with his fist, catching Elsa in the gut and punting her into the ground.

Meiss touches down on the floor, breathing heavy. Elsa slowly, lazily rises to her feet. She looks at the blonde, mere meters away.

"You could have made it into that girl's library, why didn't you?"

"I said I was going to beat the shit out of you. I try to stick by my promises. Like the one I made to myself… Frederica was a person, and that's more than I can say for you."

"Really now? You call yourself human despite that feeling that hangs around you? I know very few humans that are willing to die without thinking of themselves at all or feeling no fear of death."

"Why is everyone in this world so talkative?"

The two stare at each other for a second, before Elsa speeds forward. Meiss doesn't try to guard or dodge, instead striking out with his fist. Elsa dodges, flipping over and behind Meiss. The blonde spins around, kicking at Elsa. Unable to dodge since the air provides no footing, Elsa goes flying into a wall. Meiss falls after putting himself into an awkward position for the kick. The assassin seems to stick to the wall, and climbs along the surface. Meiss raises to his feet. She kicks off, spinning in the air and slashing at Meiss again. Meiss crosses his arms above his head to block.

"Two-!"

Elsa spins like a corkscrew, aiming her second kukri at Meiss' stomach. His hands are still above his head, he can't get them down fast enough. The blade reaches closer… and acedia severs the hand that holds it. Meiss jumps away as Elsa's hand goes flying. Meiss lets the burning wire retract into his torso, watching Elsa examine her blackened and bloody stump. She then walks over to her severed hand, picking it up.

"What the-"

The guthunter shaves off the blackened and melted skin with her kukri, and does the same with her severed hand. Meiss watches in horror as she holds her severed hand to her wrist. They _connect_ , and knit back together.

"Passive healing? Why does that have to be there?!"

Elsa examines her reattached hand. She smiles at Meiss, her face pink.

"A power in common with Mother… I have never had the pleasure to dance with someone like you."

"Mother?"

The loud banging of a door distracts Meiss from his thoughts. Both him and Elsa turn to see Beatrice with a door open. The spirit fires a purple spear at Elsa, who dodges.

"Don't listen to her drabble I suppose. That girl has a sick mind."

Beatrice fires more glassy purple spears before closing the door. Elsa jumps in the air to dodge them all. Meiss dashes at the airborne woman, cannoning into her back and falling to the ground. Elsa struggles under him, feeling the stinging pain of electricity as Meiss holds her down with advanced dolorem.

"My my, so assertive coming at me from behind."

Meiss presses his hand into her side, letting acedia burn a small divot in her flesh.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't really see people like that."

Beatrice opens another door, sending a volley of those purple glass spears at the two struggling on the floor. Meiss takes the hits from one or two with stagno before jumping away and letting Elsa get the full brunt of the barrage.

...

"Son of a bitch."

Elsa gets up and shakes off the spears, completely unscathed. She discards her tattered cloak, which dissipates into colored mana like the purple spears. The guthunter smiles, before launching herself at Meiss again.

"You shouldn't jump so much!"

Meiss springs off the ground and collides with Elsa midair. The two struggle as their colliding momentum makes them spin in the air for a second. Elsa aims a kukri for Meiss' head. Meiss jerks his head to the side and she cuts off that annoying lock of hair. Meiss jabbs his knee into her side, on the burn he left. Elsa tries to hit him with the pommel of her blade, but Meiss breaks away for a second. He grabs her arm just as they hit the ground. A loud pop is heard as her shoulder becomes dislocated. They are struggling on the ground again, though this time Meiss has a foot pressed into the guthunter's back and is pulling on her arm.

"Stupid healing!"

Meiss reaches for his gate and pulls a manganese dart from it. He jams the metal into Elsa's forearm between the ulna and radius. Elsa jerks her other hand out from underneath her as Meiss pries with the manganese. The woman's forearm splits in two with a horrid ripping sound just as she grabs Meiss' leg. The blonde is still holding her arm when he is thrown away. The flesh rips and tears as the ulna half of Elsa's forearm is dragged along with Meiss. Meiss hits the ground and goes rolling.

"Holy fuck!"

The blonde rights himself as he looks at his half of Elsa's arm. Half of her palm and three of her fingers are also attached. The flowing blood soaks Meiss' shirt even more as he stands up.

Elsa grimaces at him as she pops her dislocated arm back in place. The assassin steps back to dodge a purple spear. Another is fired and Elsa flips over it to dodge. She clenches her teeth as she dashes for the opened door. Her kukri flashes as she throws it, pinning the door to the wall behind it. The spirit glances at it for half a second before continuing to fire off volleys of the purple glass spears. Elsa jumps and dives and spins to evade them. She reaches out to grab the spirit, before feeling blood splatter against her. The woman's ripped off half-arm slams into her face.

"WRYYYYAA!"

Meiss strikes out with buff dolorem, aiming for the guthunter's back. Her rib cage cracks and splinters under the force of the punch. Meiss' hand sails through her vitals and out the other side, popping her lung like a balloon and dragging her heart outside of her body. Elsa goes wide-eyed as her heart comes into view, before a fist caves in part of her skull. Meiss pummels the guthunter with his free hand, cracking and denting her skull, pulverizing her shoulder blade and shattering her neck bones. He removes his now-red arm from her chest cavity and punches Elsa's body down the hallway.

"Hah… hah…"

Meiss turns to the forbidden archive where Beatrice and Petra stare at him with wide eyes. Meiss takes a step, and then another, before he falls to his knees. Meiss was about to go to bed before this, his body was already exhausted. Stacking running around while holding somebody and a fight to the death on top of that is a bit much.

Beatrice walks outside the library, she stops in front of Meiss. He raises his head and tries to stand up. The effort is for naught as his abdomen refuses to be straightened.

"Murak, I suppose."

The spirit gently pushes Meiss and he floats over to the forbidden archive. Meiss slowly flips around in the air.

"Thanks."

Beatrice huffs.

"If you could have opened more distance between yourself and that girl Betty would have been able to open her door much sooner in fact! This would have never- Oh, this boy has fallen asleep I suppose."

—

"Guh!"

Meiss jumps awake suddenly. He tries to stand up, only for tiny hands to push him back down. The blonde notices that he's now inside a library, which is partly obscured by his hair covering his face.

"Beatrice?"

"Stay down for a bit I suppose. You started clutching your stomach and sweating after Betty healed you in fact."

"I…"

Meiss looks down at his bloody clothes, and pushes a finger into the hole in the fabric left by Elsa's dart. _I feel fine. That throwing dart is gone too. Must've thought about the Witch…_ Meiss sighs, and reclines against a bookcase. _How will we deal with those demonbeasts surrounding the mansion?_

The blonde looks around. He spots Petra standing next to a different bookcase and fidgeting. Meiss sits up and twists his torso, testing his regained movement. _I'm a little stiff around where I was stabbed, but that's it._ He sighs, feeling the last remnants of battle jitters leave him. He stays like that for a few minutes as Beatrice huffs and hovers around him.

"With that tall maid gone our fighting force is rather low I suppose. Betty would rather have you fight than uselessly die on the floor. Hmph, Betty doesn't know what was wrong in fact; your sleeping actions were probably unrelated to your injury i'm guessing."

"Thanks, Beatrice."

Meiss stretches his legs and stands up. He wobbles, and uses the bookcase to steady himself. The blonde reaches up and pushes his hair over his head, wincing when his finger undoes a tangle. For a second, he stares into space wondering where that annoying lock of hair went. _Did it finally obey like the rest of my hair?_ Meiss pokes around where the lock originates from, finding short hairs that stick straight up. _Oh, it was cut off…_

Meiss sighs and looks at the books next to him. _I can't read any of this binding._ The bookshelf is easily taller than two Meiss' on top of one another, and the blonde wonders how Beatrice gets the books near the top. _Well, she probably uses that murak spell. Wait a second…_ Meiss remembers that the book on yin spells he read in Crusch's Library was in english. It wasn't broken english either, it was written by someone who had a clear grasp of the language. _What the hell… Why would that be there?_

"Your toy is done in fact."

Breaking through Meiss' thoughts, Beatrice walks up to him. She is holding the sword they were making together. It's a simple thing, a shortsword called a xiphos. Made of an alloy called manganese bronze, the golden-brown color is deadly to any who possess an authority. Along the flat of the blade on each side is a strip of rhenium to add coolness to the swings, it's cosmetic. The sword only took so long to make because some of the materials in manganese bronze were tricky to get.

"Oh, thanks agai- AWAWA!"

Beatrice throws the sword at Meiss. He tries to catch it and dodge as well, which ends up with him falling while holding a sword blade. Meiss gets that feeling of leaning too far back in a chair but catching himself as he stands back up.

"T-THIS COULD KILL ME! Cuts right through my damage nullification…"

Manganese and rhenium are bad sword metals overall, since rhenium bends and manganese is brittle. To counteract this, the short length of the xiphos and the strengthening of the material by making it into an alloy was done. It would probably make the properties of the manganese less potent, but that was a tradeoff Meiss was comfortable with.

Meiss gives the spirit the stink eye as he walks over to Petra. The maid has been standing next to a bookcase the entire time, unmoving. Meiss crouches in front of her, careful to point his sword away from the girl.

"Hey Petra, are you ok?"

She nods yes. Meiss creases his brows at her refusal to talk.

"Are you sure?"

Petra nods again, not speaking. Meiss is bad with emotional people when he himself is not emotional. Meiss stands up and walks over to Beatrice, who has returned to her stool. He looks back at the little maid, before he starts talking to Beatrice.

"Hey Beatrice, sorry to bother you but how many yin spells do you know?"

Beatrice continues to read her book. Not even looking at Meiss when she responds.

"You should find that Betty knows them all, even those that are lost to time I suppose."

"What about teika? How long can you use it?"

Beatrice stops mid page-flip. She looks at Meiss, and the blonde wonders if she even heard him. Meiss can feel the full force of Beatrice judging him.

Finally, she responds.

"A spell as big as teika will drain Betty's mana reserves quickly, especially if you're suggesting I exclude us both from it's effects in fact. Though Betty will humor you, I suppose. The limit for Betty alone would be around fifteen seconds, though for us both eight seconds would be my guess."

Meiss growls in his throat. eight seconds if she drained all her mana reserves? That may not be enough time. Meiss tries to remember more spells from that book. He draws a blank. The blonde wasn't reading it to memorize, he was reading that book because he needed to take his mind off of things.

"Hey, can you-"

"If you think Betty is your weapon, you are sorely mistaken in fact."

"-tell me if there are any secret passages or anything that we can use to escape."

Beatrice pauses for a second, before readjusting herself on her stool. She looks at the door to the forbidden archive for a second before returning focus to her book.

"When you exit the forbidden archive, you will find yourself in the underground escape tunnel I suppose."

Meiss looks at the door to the library. Was it that easy to change the exit?

Thinking that now is as good a time as any, Meiss lifts the bronze sword to his arm. Under his clothes, a greyish-white light shines. The organ that channels mana, and for some the producer of usable mana. Meiss is fortunate that using "gatespace" requires no mana. After a few seconds and a weird pinching feeling, the xiphos shrinks into the glowing patch of skin. Meiss rubs his arm, it's not like that feeling hurt, but the feeling of having his stiff scar tissue being pinched is weird.

"Wonder if gatespace has a limit?"

"It's around sixty-seven kirogurm I suppose, though there are slight differences between each person I suppose. And it's called Krozeto, not this 'gatespace' in fact."

"Kirogurm? Kilogram? Eh, just slightly different; and why such a large limit?"

Not expecting to get an answer for his question, Meiss immediately walks over to the door. Petra slowly makes her way over. Meiss puts a hand on the doorknob, glancing at Petra behind him. The small maid hasn't stopped shivering entirely, but her shivers are less noticeable now. Meiss turns back to the door.

"Are you coming with us, Beatrice?"

"You really think the all-powerful Betty would leave the forbidden archive; her greatest weapon in fact?"

"Sigh, I thought not."

"Hurry and get out of here, and stop saying 'sigh' instead of actually sighing I suppose!"

"Sigh."

"Anger, I suppose."

Meiss twists the doorknob and opens the door a crack. He can see uneven cobblestone making up the floor and walls. The cobble is uneven only in shape, and the floor is flat except for the divots between the stones. Meiss opens the door wider and takes a step out.

"Oh damn it."

Without missing a beat, Meiss backpedals into the forbidden archive. He trips over his own feet and collapses to his side, blood pouring from his stomach. Petra goes wide-eyed and kneels next to Meiss while Beatrice looks up from her book. Pale hand on the door, the guthunter throws open access to the forbidden archive. She steps into the library, taking a moment to cleave through the door hinges so that door crossing cannot activate.

"El Minya, I suppose!"

Glassy purple spears surround Elsa. She glances around at what would surely be her impending doom. Then she flicks her wrist, and a flowing set of blades arc throughout the purple spears, destroying them. Elsa raises her arm, brandishing a thick white blade that the flashing snake-sword recedes into. Beatrice narrows her gaze.

Petra sits next to the bloody, and still bleeding, body of Meiss. He is still on his side, and Petra has a front row seat to the display of his insides. The maid slowly reaches her fingers out, flinching as a tiny purple shard cuts her hand.

"Ah."

Petra reaches again for the body of the boy, pressing her hands into his side. His blood flows over her hands as she presses them onto his shirt. Soft blue light starts to pour from the girl's fingers, and Meiss' severed skin slowly starts to knit together. Only the skin though. Petra doesn't stop, continuing to use healing magic despite her lack of training. After thirty seconds of trying her best, Petra is rewarded with a centimeter of healed skin. Beatrice's stool bounces next to Meiss, there's a gash in the seat and one of the supporting beams between the legs.

"This'll be rude, but just healing the skin is kinda useless. Thank you though, Petra."

"W-wha?!"

Petra jumps away as the body speaks. Meiss looks at her and smiles before grabbing the stool next to the maid and standing it up. He examines his abdomen with a surprisingly lax expression, as if he's had this experience before. Petra scoots back to the wall, not knowing what in the world is happening. Meiss struggles to a kneeling position.

Beatrice shouts.

"Shamak! Ql Minya in fact!"

Elsa stops moving as her vision is obscured by black smoke. Yin magic is one of the few things she hasn't had much interaction with due to the element being so rare and being such a good assassin that her prey usually has no time to react. She can't see anything, but remembers the library and dashes ahead regardless.

"Oh."

Elsa feels air upon her bloody body. It seems that she is being shredded by just moving around. No matter, something as trivial as tiny blades won't do much to her. She walks on, savoring the feeling of her warm blood spilling. The guthunter emerges from the smoke, the tiny blades having shredded her skin apart so much that one can see nothing but her clothing and liquid red.

"Wasting mana on such a useless attack, it's quite funny."

The spirit watches in disgust as Elsa disregards damage and pain. She walks through the field of glassy shards, paying no mind to the blood oozing and gushing down her body. Elsa steps out of the minefield looking like she took the brunt of a full-body shotgun blast. The holes are almost big enough to see through her. Slowly, the holes cease to be as Elsa heals.

"Curse doll… It seems that you've found a way to circumvent it's restrictions I suppose."

"What of it?"

Elsa takes a step, raising her kukris. Her white weapon seems to have disappeared. The guthunter takes another step and prepares to jump, only to stop and look at her foot. The appendage is severed from slightly above the ankle down. The smell of burnt flesh assaults everybody's noses as they look to the struggling form of Meiss. The blonde is using Beatrice's stool to support himself with one hand. He pays their gaze no heed, merely removing his other hand from his gut and examining the blood and guts running down his body.

"Really, seeing these once was enough."

"Ah, I'm really quite envious now."

Elsa reaches down to grab her foot. Beatrice is not a physical fighter, and Meiss has extremely limited abdominal control so nobody can do anything to stop Elsa from reattaching her foot. Meiss struggles to stand without flopping over, he resorts to coiling an acedia around his torso. He starts to wobble to the outer edges of the Ql Minya minefield. He activates stagno on an arm and grabs a handful of the floating purple shards. He jumps at Elsa, throwing the shards in front of him. The guthunter dodges by jumping to the side. She goes flying into the wall after blocking a Minya from Beatrice.

"Such an interesting dance!"

Elsa doesn't slide down the wall, instead kicking off it and landing on a bookcase. She topples the structure by jumping off of it, swinging her kukri at Meiss. Meiss swipes his hand over his head, a short acedia melting through the weapon. Bright orange metal sprays the fallen books like blood. The guthunter discards the useless handle by throwing it at Meiss. Meiss tries to catch it, but ends up dropping it after unceremoniously juggling it around for a second.

Meiss looks up to see Elsa giggling at him. She pulls another kukri out from behind her and jumps. Meiss, having his movement restricted by the acedia wrapped around his torso, forgoes trying to pursue her and just watches as she pushes off the ceiling and knocks another bookcase over. The guthunter spins in the air as she approaches Meiss.

"Again with the jumping!"

Meiss catches her kukri and pulls on the blade. He swings out and catches Elsa in the temple, punching her down and into the floor. She does a backwards roll and jumps to avoid a minya.

"Honestly…"

Meiss reaches out a hand, snaring the guthunter's leg with acedia. The woman hangs upside-down, a smile on her face as she watches Meiss.

"Why don't I just use these from the beginning?"

The acedia sprouting from his hand migrates it's point of origin to Meiss' back. Another acedia sprouts from his back and works it's way over to Elsa, wrapping around her other leg.

"That's your cue, Beatrice."

"Don't boss me around I suppose! Minya minya minya!"

The three glassy purple spears are launched at the immobile guthunter. Meiss' finger twitches, and he pulls a manganese spike from his gate. _She's staying strangely still_. Just before the minyas hit her, Elsa pulls a kukri from her back and cleaves through the acedia holding her up. She completes the swing and throws the weapon to the side. Meiss throws the manganese spike, and it barely glances off the blade, throwing it's trajectory off ever so slightly.

"PETRA, MOVE!"

The girl sitting against the wall of the library slumps to her side on Meiss' command. The kukri imbeds itself in the wall next to where the top of her head was. Petra's nerves are so shocked that she has been holding a blank face throughout this fight.

"Bitch!"

Meiss kicks a book at Elsa, who moves her head to dodge it. The blonde follows up with another punch to the head. Elsa is quicker though, and she throws a punch that catches Meiss in the jaw. The blonde gets thrown into the air and spins like a corkscrew.

_God that hurts, I wasn't expecting a punch. Why are people so deceptively strong in this world?_

Meiss sends an acedia into the ground to stop his spinning. He uses it to land safely on his feet. The spinning has him stumble for a second. Elsa pulls another kukri from her back and takes this opportunity to attack, but Beatrice fends her off with minya. Meiss regains his balance and picks up a book. It's one of the books that was hit by the melted kukri. This book and a few others are on fire, but the fire hasn't really spread. Meiss chucks the book at Elsa. The flaming book hits the back of her head, and her hair catches on fire.

_She's distracted by her hair._

Meiss looks at the blood on his hand from his stomach. He slightly undoes the acedia around his torso, letting blood drip onto his hand. The blonde jumps forward.

"You look like a fan of dirty tricks, so what about blood in the eyes?"

He swipes his hand through the air. The scarlet drops find their mark and Elsa is blinded. _This is better than destroying the eyes, because then she'd just heal them back and be fine._ Meiss feels his arm start to crackle and burn as dolorem activates. Intending to punch Elsa in the throat, Meiss swings his arm.

Elsa strikes out with her kukri. The guthunter can just barely see past the hazy red of Meiss' blood. The blade travels between the blonde's middle and ring finger, traveling through the muscles and bones of his forearm. Meiss cannot have dolorem and stagno active at the same time. Disregarding injury, Meiss pushes on. He switches from trying to use dolorem to using acedia to burn through Elsa. The interference from the kukri cutting off half of his forearm results in Meiss' strike aiming for her upper torso.

Elsa uses her free arm to swipe away his half-handed punch. Meiss tilts forward after putting his weight behind that attack. He missed… Doesn't matter. Acedia sprouts from his back and circles around to attack the guthunter.

The burning wire circles around Meiss' torso, leaving a large gash in the stone above him and revealing a sliver of starlight. The gash starts on the roof a few feet from the edge and travels down the wall, ending at Meiss' body.

The blonde jerks into motion. He starts coughing due to settled dust and grasping at his stomach. It takes a minute, but he is finally able to pull air into his lungs. Meiss looks around and notices the gentle purple light and smooth grey stone.

"I'm back in the tomb? Redo activated… even though I didn't die… Is it linked only to Subaru; and I just remember?"

Meiss looks at the gash he created in the wall with acedia, he went all the way through the stone of the tomb. _The tomb…_

"That's right, Emilia!"

—

Meiss and Emilia walk out of the tomb together. Meiss spots Subaru right away next to Rem, and wastes no time in power walking over to them.

"Re-"

"Th' hell was that! You carved a hole straight through th' tomb's wall! That piece 'v shit's th' only way Sanctuary's gettin' freed!"

Meiss turns to face Garfiel. The boy has a very annoyed, almost angry expression.

"I'm sorry Garfiel, but I had a rather gut wrenching experience in there. I'm sure the place will be fine. If you don't mind I really need to go somewhere to talk to Rem and Subaru here."

"And why th' fuck do ya need ta go somewhere? Anythin' ya need to say can be said here."

"Please back the _fuck_ off, I'm currently in a less-than-ideal mood, Garfiel."

"Who th' hell're you to be orderin' me around, Blondie?"

Garfiel takes a step closer to Meiss. Meiss turns his body fully to face Garfiel.

"Garf!"

Ram comes up behind Garfiel and calls his name. She moves to walk between the boy and Meiss, her hand twitching near her thigh.

"I do not wish to have to separate you two of you, but if you cannot cool down I will take pleasure in snapping them off to diffuse the situation."

Garfiel backs off, worried. Meiss shows no signs of calming down as he stalks away.

Subaru briefly looks at Meiss stalking off in the direction of the stream they talk by. Rem glances at him too, before looking from Ram to Garfiel and then to Subaru. The teen scratches his head lightly before turning to Ram. The pink maid is leading Emilia off to Sanctuary proper by the hand.

"Thanks Ram."

"I was looking forward to snapping them off…"

"Goodbye Ram."

—

Rem follows Subaru as he brushes foliage to the side. They make their way to a stream that runs through the forest. Meiss is already there, standing on dry land not far from the muddy shore of the water. Subaru walks on ahead.

"Meiss, what happened?"

"Some fucking sadist named Elsa is what happened!"

Rem tilts her head to the side. _Elsa? Elsa Granhiert? Impossible, Meiss was just in the tomb, or was that his trial? The trial doesn't seem like it would be combat based._

"Wha- Elsa? The guthunter?!"

"Yeah! Attacks the mansion six days from now!"

"Six! That's the same day as the Ousagi…"

"Uhm, Subaru-kun, Meiss, what is it that you two are discussing?"

Meiss flicks his eyes over to Rem. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and kicks at the ground.

"Subaru, any chance you can call Her back so she can make Rem remember? She seemed to have a very nice opinion of you."

"Seeing what that resulted in last time… No. Though that's what you found out, listen to what I found out…"

Rem can't follow the conversation well. It's like two people having an inside joke that the third person doesn't understand. She looks between the two discussing the guthunter, the Ousagi, and something about clones. Rem creases her brows, frustrated she was called to this discussion but left out.

"Sorry Rem. But we need to dance around the explanation since you are the only one who can't. Basically, Elsa attacks the mansion six days from now, Ousagi attacks Sanctuary six days from now. Quite a headache."

"Wait, Meiss, how do you know this? It's like you can-"

Rem stops, before pressing her palm to her forehead.

"You can see Subaru-kun’s power?"

Why was he allowed to do that? That means something must have happened that she wasn't a part of. _Or it was something that Rem hasn’t done yet._

"We can dance around and tell you stuff, but the price for remembering was quite painful."

Rem again watches from the sidelines as Meiss and Subaru discuss what they've learned. She picks up something about command authority and being unable to kill Elsa.

"It's not a question of whether or not I can kill her. I definitely sent my fist through her and would've cut her in half. But she doesn't stay dead, always coming back and healing. Beatrice said something about 'curse doll.'"

This is something Rem knows.

"Subaru-kun, Meiss, curse dolls are people who have undergone a ritual to make themselves slightly immortal to kill someone. Though all they will think about is killing that person and they can do nothing else. Though Rem once heard a rumor about there being a way to bypass the negative effects…"

"Slightly immortal?"

"Let Rem clarify. They will heal from death and injury, but there is a limit. If they are hurt too much, they will fail. Though Rem believes Meiss should be the one to take care of Elsa, Subaru-kun would best be suited to staying by Rem's side as she protects him."

Subaru looks at Rem hurt, she ignores him while thinking.

"It seemed like Rem wasn't with you Meiss, Rem could go with you to the mansion to help with Elsa."

"Thanks Rem. Elsa was accompanied by innumerable demonbeasts that surrounded the mansion. Assuming that wasn't a coincidence, then she had to corral them or had a friend to help her. That means Elsa could have been lurking around the mansion for days before she attacks."

"And I can focus more on Emilia since Rem is gone- I'm sorry Rem! Please don't pout; AHH MY SOUL! IT HURTS!"

Subaru curls into the fetal position, he used humor!

"Rem wonders about the Ousagi. You mentioned that, right Subaru-kun? What would we do about it?"

It was ineffective!

Rem folds her arms behind her as Meiss kicks the ground again. Subaru stands up and brushes dirt off his pants. He then steps over to Rem and places a hand on her head. The teen earns a pleased expression as he rubs.

"We can do this guys."

"Rem wonders how Subaru-kun can be so upbeat when faced with such low odds; and you neglected to answer my question."


	21. Siege of the Roswaal Mansion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo

Subaru casually breathed in the crisp non-so-morning air. The sun isn't yet at it's peak, so long shadows are dancing along the clearing that he is in. Around him are the carriages that will be transporting the Arlam villagers once again. Their departure this loop is a tad (~30 minutes) earlier than the recent loops. Excluding Subaru's first loop and the Envy loop where everyone died.

"Subaru, why don't we wish them well?"

"Eh, we should. Don't know why I'm trying to stall."

 _I know why I'm trying to stall, but Emilia doesn't need to worry about the happenings at the mansion._ The half-elf in question was sticking rather close to him as they saw the villagers off. Subaru couldn't help glancing at her every now and then. The not-quite-morning sun filtered beautifully through her snow-white hair.

Having intentionally avoided them, Subaru knows exactly where they are. Turning completely around, Subaru finds the pair within seconds. The two of them are chatting next to a carriage, the conversation looks important. But Natsuki Subaru wouldn't be Subaru Natsuki if he wasn't going to barge right in.

"-although during the carriage ride, would you mind showing- Oh, Subaru, finally stopped standing around?"

"Oh har har, you're lucky I'm even taking the time to see you guys off."

"I wonder when you two got so close?"

Emilia leans in close to Subaru's side, smiling. Her hair spills from her shoulder as she leans. _Cute._

"Well, being held prisoner is a crisis, and they say a crisis strengthens bonds so…"

Subaru raised his hand to the sky in a victory pose. Emilia backs up to allow him room.

"Ignore all that! I don't need circumstance to be the best friend-maker there is!"

"Subaru-kun's friends do all the dirty work though."

"While that is true I'm going to ignore that! Wait hold on… have I never done anything without help?"

While Subaru seriously tries to remember, everyone laughs a little at Rem's fun fact. It wasn't a big joke though, so everyone calms down quickly. Once she stops laughing, Rem walks over to Subaru and places a light peck on his cheek. Rem looks into Subaru's eyes for a second, her face red. The teen's face goes red as well, he backs up and hides his blush.

"Gah! Rem you can't just do that! Give me a warning!"

"Does Rem strike you as someone who is merciful?"

While the tone wasn't threatening, the wording and context is enough to strike fear into Subaru's heart. Meiss tries to hold in a laugh and ends up making a weird throaty sound. He looks at everyone's faces aimed at him and enters serious mode to cope with the sudden attention.

"Subaru, since we will be away and it's not certain when we will return, be ready with the 'lightshow' just in case."

"Them? Of course. Not really a plan but for here but it's the best we've got. Also, don't forget to give Beatrice my note. Please make sure that loli doesn't get lonely."

"Sure."

Emilia looks at Subaru and Meiss questioningly. She then makes her gaze over to Rem, who didn't look like she was in on what they were on the majority of what they were talking about. Emilia stopped leaning next to Subaru and stood up straight. _Everyone here got reeeaaaally close. I feel left out._ Subaru was still staring at Meiss, it was like a conversation was being exchanged between their very minds. Evidently that wasn't what it was, because after a few moments Meiss opened his mouth.

"Are you expecting a kiss from me too, Subaru?"

"OH HELL NO!"

Subaru took a threatening step forward and shouted at Meiss, who had a completely serious expression on his face. Seeing that Meiss had a serious expression, Subaru's shouts got even louder. Meiss' expression did break down though and he cracked a smile before facing away and stifling his laughter. Rem turned to Meiss and proudly declared:

"Rem refuses to lose this race to Meiss!"

"I'm gonna put up a fight Rem, Subaru's mine."

"Will you two STOP!"

Subaru tries in vain to stop them from teasing him further. Emilia takes a second to enjoy everyone getting along. _Without me._ The half-elf clenches her hands together to her chest, before turning around to leave. She doesn't really understand the sinking feeling in her chest, especially when Rem gave Subaru a peck on the cheek.

"Ho ho? Don't think you can get away that easily."

A warm wire wraps around the retreating Emilia's hand and gently draws her back in. The half-elf doesn't resist, happy that they didn't really forget about her. The orange-cyan wire pulls Emilia to Meiss, who grabs her shoulders and spins her to face Subaru and Rem.

"You haven't said goodbye yet, have you…"

Meiss leaned in closer, and whispered to the half-elf.

"Emilia, please don't push yourself too hard with the trial, mine was hell and I assume yours was too. You may be stuck here, but that doesn't mean you have to be completely miserable."

Meiss drew back. He may be able to remember, but that doesn't mean he has all the answers. He can see Emilia is a little off, but the trial is something that she must overcome herself.

_That's no reason to have her work herself to exhaustion._

Emilia stares ahead for a second longer before Subaru finally says goodbye to Rem. The oni tries to give him another peck, but he runs to hide behind Meiss. He seems to rethink that when Meiss purses his lips and hides behind Emilia instead.

"Emilia-tan, please protect me!"

"You two knock it off, poor Subaru is shaking like a scared puppy!"

Emilia raises her index finger and scolds Rem and Meiss, making them apologize. After that Subaru and Emilia leave hand-in-hand. Now the lightheartedness is behind Meiss and Rem, now they can talk in depth about the events fated to take place.

"'Events fated' really does have that nice ring to it. What about unmei? …Nah, it isn't the same."

"What is it Meiss?"

"Oh nothing, just rambling about nonsense. More important is what we will be doing when we get to the mansion. I have a few ideas but I would like to hear yours first."

Rem ponders for a second. Before Garfiel walks by. The boy looks at Meiss with scorn, opening his mouth for some snide comment probably. Meiss gives him an unintentionally hard stare, and Garfiel properly stops before he starts to walk up to Meiss. Although it isn't physical, the two have been openly passive-agressive of each other since yesterday. It baffles everybody, since they got along well enough after first coming here but before Emilia took her trial.

"Please, Rem understands you two have formed a negative opinion of each other but refrain from quarreling in front of the villagers."

Meiss' desire to annoy deflates upon Rem's statement, and Garfiel stops walking. The boy then pointedly turns around and walks to the head of the carriages. Rem sighs, and she climbs into the carriage they were next to. Meiss watches Garfiel for a second before joining Rem.

The blonde settles into a cross-legged sitting style. Rem sits with her legs folded under her. Meiss takes a deep breath and claps his hands on his thighs.

"Before we start planning, can you show me a map of the area? I can use acedia to scorch the floor for marking."

Meiss calls an acedia forth that extends from his back and hangs above the floor. Careful not to actually touch the carriage, the heat from the authority blackens a little dot on the bed.

"This will be the mansion. If you don't mind, please point to other places."

Rem points out a few places Meiss knows, and another he doesn't. Arlam village, right next to the mansion; Sanctuary, pretty far off and about two feet from the mansion; the mountain range that surrounds about half the mansion is a squiggle; and to the north is a blotch that Rem calls Elior forest.

"Though Roswaal-sama's mansion is surrounded by woodland, Elior forest is a proper forest with tall trees and lush plant life. If Rem remembers correctly though, it's about half covered in eternal winter."

"That's interesting, but it's too far away to really worry about. Since the demonbeasts accompanied Elsa it's safe to say she wouldn't need to worry about the forest around the mansion. That means she could be anywhere within walking distance… That doesn't help…"

Meiss ponders the map for a second, when a memory flashes. _Beatrice was dropping us off at an escape tunnel._

"What about a secret escape passage? I know one exists but not where it starts or ends."

"Ah, Rem remembers that she is no longer under oath. The tunnel ends here, in the mountains. A simple cabin is there with provisions to sustain four people for two weeks. Roswaal-sama cast a strong illusion on the cabin, so only those with prior knowledge can find it..There is also a seperate storage unit underneath the mansion for the storage of volatile lagmite."

"And… There we go, map done. Now on to ideas… I have a pretty good idea that should work."

"Rem hasn't given this much thought herself, so please tell Rem."

"Ok then. Frederica will probably not trust me since… You know, I stink like the witch even more now. There is also the fact you don't have any relations anymore. So we'll say that we saw a pack of demonbeasts on the way to the mansion. The warding stones on that road will protect us, but the pack is pretty large and a concern. I'll say that I experienced the archbishop tingle and that it followed us, allowing us to use the excuse of a hostile archbishop tailing us and targeting the mansion. Now since the forest around the mansion is full of demonbeasts, those warding stones should be surrounding the mansion, right?"

"Yes."

"So we can have you check them under the pretense of worry, since the demonbeasts need just one opening to get in. If things go well, Frederica and Petra should be willing to cooperate with us. One of us should also check the escape tunnel hut. We can flesh out the details later if this plan is ok with you."

"Rem thinks it is quite a good plan for the little information we have. Though Rem is surprised that Petra is working at the mansion."

Meiss shifted so that his legs were folded and pulled in close to his body. This would be more comfortable for longer sitting.

"Did she have a different aspiration? My first time meeting her was at the mansion before the last memory."

"Ah, that is right. You didn't go with Subaru-kun, Emilia-sama, and Rem when we visited the Arlam villagers in the capital, so you are not acquainted with them. You were sulking in a guest room if Rem remembers correctly."

Meiss leans his head back and remembers that week at Crusch's mansion. It seems like forever ago, but actually only a little over a week has passed if you exclude being able to remember. _Oh yeah, we figured out what the rock was made of. We still need to tell them the material; but we haven't had a chance and probably won't soon. Well, Crusch is kinda scary, so that rules out me delivering the news. Probably._

"Hey Rem."

"What is it, Meiss?"

"Exactly how much do I stink of the Witch?"

Rem puts a finger to her lips for a second before sniffing. It was a short sniff. Only a weirdo would take a whiff of someone's stink. Like Rem with Subaru.

"It's definitely more, but Rem's Subaru-kun still masks it."

"Hm."

A few minutes pass in silence with nothing being said. After talking about the Witch, Meiss has desired a subject change. Silence wasn't a subject change.

_What to talk about. What to talk about…_

"How are things going with Subaru?"

Rem blushes at the sudden question.

"S-slow. Subaru-kun is like a maiden with how little he is forward."

"Well, I've run out of things to talk about so goodnight."

Meiss slumps to the side and closes his eyes. Rem pouts at how easy he gave up on trying to talk. He didn't even give her time to turn the question back on him. _Though Rem wouldn't have anyone to ask him about. He didn't particularly enjoy Crusch-sama's affection._

—

Meiss yawns into his hand. That was a bad nap, since he had a full-night's rest beforehand and was woken up rather abruptly by Rem. The sun is setting, so it's about six P.M. beyond the waterfall. Meiss doesn't remember exactly what time of day he arrived last time, but he knows they definitely departed Sanctuary earlier.

Ahead of him, Rem has stopped at the gate. She is waiting for the slow blonde to catch up. Meiss sighs and joggs to her. Unfortunately it seems only his memories travel back in time, so Meiss can feel the short run take more of a toll on his body than it would usually. _I was just getting back into the running groove._ Together they enter the mansion's expansive yard. A gentle, but warm, breeze tousles the grass in waves as they walk up to the mansion. Just like last time, Frederica opens the door to welcome the returning residents before they make it to the stairs.

"I was not expecting your return so soon, Meiss-sama, Rem-sama."

"Well, some things happened over at Sanctuary, Frederica."

Rem was the first to ascend the stairs with Meiss behind her.

"Rem's Subaru-kun convinced Roswaal-sama to release the villagers since Emilia-sama is within Sanctuary."

"I take it you know of the barrier then?"

"Yeah, while personally there were some things I didn't like that's not the problem. It's somewhere around dinner-time right? Mind if we talk afterwards? It's kinda urgent."

"Very well."

Meiss overtakes Rem, passing by the woman of the same height and walking farther into the mansion. Behind him, the blonde can hear Rem and Frederica talking like old peers. _Well, they are._ Meiss glances back before preparing to walk up the main staircase.

"Meiss-sama."

Meiss turns back to Frederica, who called his name.

"Yes?"

"We have a new maid-in-training, would you like to meet her?"

"Sure. So many new faces must make things lively around here, huh?"

"Certainly."

Meiss walks back over to Rem and Frederica, the latter of which walks off. After a short moment, she returns with the ginger maid Petra. The small maid performs a curtsy and introduces herself.

"I am Petra Leyte, a new maid here. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. The person before you is Rem, and this guy over here is Meiss Rhen."

"Pleasure to meet you, Petra."

Rem and Meiss both introduce themselves to the new maid. This time without awkward handshakes. After the introductions Petra informs them that dinner will be ready shortly and either she or Frederica will call them down.

From here, Meiss splits off to search for Beatrice while Rem follows Frederica to tell her about "some demonbeasts she saw."

Side-by-side, Rem and Frederica walk down the hall. Even though there is a great height difference, the sight of both of them is oddly scary. Like an iron wall that seems like it could crush you, but hasn't started moving. Namely, the _potential_ to be formidable if they need to be.

"Rem should mention that on the way here we encountered a pack of demonbeasts. The warding stones protected us, but is there something like that for here?"

"I assume Subaru-sama told you about the wulgarm incident?"

"Yes."

"I assure you that we have precautions against demonbeasts, but if it would put you at ease we can check the warding stones tomorrow, Rem-sama."

"Thank you, that would be appreciated."

—

"Ahh…"

Meiss hangs his arms as he walks down the hallway. He had just spent the last fifteen minutes looking for Beatrice with no luck. Petra said that food would be done soon, so Meiss is giving up for now.

The blonde straightens his posture as he nears his room. It would be pointless to carry around Subaru's note and get it all wrinkled up. Meiss gently opens his door and bam… Forbidden Archive.

Seeing as Meiss just spent fifteen minutes looking and now she decides to show up, Meiss is a little agitated. He closes the door, waits a second, and reopens it.

"DON'T JUST CLOSE IT I SUPPOSE!"

"Oh hey Beatrice, didn't see you there."

"YOU MOST DEF- ugh."

Beatrice presses her hand to her forehead and Meiss takes a step into the library. The blonde glances around, picturing the toppled bookshelves, blood, and the beginnings of a fire.

"What are you looking for, I suppose?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering if you have any measures in place if there was ever a fire. Paper burns quite easily."

"Of course in fact! Betty is within the forbidden archive nearly all day, it would stand to reason that Betty's significant power could put out a simple fire I suppose!"

"Well, I won't be reading anything since I've got almost everything I need in my brain."

Beatrice looks up and regards Meiss like he is some animal that just ran into a glass pane. The spirit is nearly, or on par with Ram levels of judgyness. That glare could topple mountains. Meiss feels the intense need to defend himself.

"Hey, I assure you I'm actually quite smart! My life may be a blip when compared to yours, but age does not always correlate to knowledge! I'm sure there are super dumb old people!"

"I suppose… Just get to the point of why you are here in fact."

Meiss pulls two pieces of folded paper from his pocket and brandishes them like they have mystical power. Subaru's note and the color-coded periodic table.

"Of course my being here is related to chemistry; though if now isn't a good time I understand. The true reason though… Subaru asked me to 'make sure that loli doesn't get lonely.'"

"YOU'RE BOTH ANNOYING I SUPPOSE!"

Meiss smirks at Beatrice, who is slowly pushing him out of the library. This reaction was kind of expected of her type of character. He spreads his arms, akin to a leader performing a rallying speech.

"Subaru and I are quite familiar with the concept of 'tsundere.' It's only a matter of time until we break through your shut-in qualities! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!"

Beatrice closes her eyes and forces the annoying blonde out, shutting the door as well. She heaves a big sigh after that.

"Honestly, such nonsense I suppose. …?"

A piece of folded paper floats down to the floor. Beatrice climbs off her stool and walks over to the door. It's one of the folded papers that Meiss had.

_To Beako_

"So that idiot boy learned to write?"

—

Dinner, a glorious time of day.

Meiss has eaten this dish twice now, on each first day back. This time though, Rem is with him. The blonde had already immediately given his stamp of approval, but the blue oni has yet to. The ex-maid delicately places the last bite of potato into her mouth.

"Rem sees, with this Rem can give an honest answer."

Petra, brimming with confidence from Meiss' swift approval, can barely contain her eagerness for Rem's approval.

"It is excellent, though Rem can tell this was a beginner's work since she is an accomplished cook herself."

"Thanks, Rem-sama! I'm looking forward to getting really good at this stuff."

Frederica places a hand on Petra's shoulder. The two of them are smiling. Meiss takes a sip of water.

"This one is shaping up to be a promising maid. If I may ask, where did you get your cooking experience, Rem-sama?"

"Oh, Rem is- used to be a maid her- herself."

Meiss stops drinking when he hears Rem stumble over her words. It hasn't been two weeks since she lost her name to Gluttony. On the surface, she seems to be taking it well, but that is only the surface. Besides the crimson-headed Eura, Meiss didn't have any relations in this world. Rem has a sister, boss, peers, love interest… It makes sense this would bother her on a not superficial level.

Meiss stands up and grabs his plate, drawing attention to him and off of Rem.

"Everyone is done, yes? I can take the dishes and silverware and wash them today since you guys had to scramble and almost double the amount of food."

"Meiss-sama, there is no need."

"Thanks, but it kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth having other people pick up after me, if you understand."

Petra looks to Frederica as she looks at Meiss for a second. The blonde maid sighs.

"I do kind of understand, at least let me show you where everything is stored."

"Thanks Frederica."

—

Now in the kitchen, Meiss immediately brings the kitchenware over to the sink and sets them down. Frederica follows him into the kitchen and closes the door behind her.

"Am I right to assume this was to establish privacy for our conversation, Meiss-sama?"

"I really am going to wash the dishes, but yeah."

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Meiss turns his back to the sink and rests his arms on the sliver of countertop there. He looks at Frederica who is on the other side of the island. A blink, and the blonde can see her bleeding form as a dark silhouette on the surface.

_For Petra… Definitely._

Blink, and Meiss is back in the present. How was Subaru able to deal with remembering so easily? Maybe he isn't. Maybe that's why he was crying with Rem on that sun-soaked platform.

But that's neither here nor now.

"Before we get into the meat of this, would it be a hassle to not ask Rem about her past?"

"Shouldn't she be the one to decide if her past is worth discussing?"

Meiss scratches the back of his head.

"That is valid, but the reason she stopped being a maid was rather… unpleasant."

"I see, and you know this how?"

"I didn't protect her well enough."

Frederica closes her eyes for a second before leaning on the island. She doesn't say anything so Meiss assumes she is waiting for him to start.

"Ok then… Just to preface this I'm going to be super blunt."

"Understood."

"You can smell it right, the Witch stink?"

"It came with you when you returned from Sanctuary."

Meiss looks up and sighs.

"That's what I thought. Truth be told I have an authority of sin; though the Witchcult and I are on hate-hate terms. The sudden increase is related to the Witch of Greed's tomb."

Frederica pauses to absorb this sudden information.

"I question your authenticity in this claim. Anyone can smell of the Witch, yet there are only seven authorities of sin."

 _That's valid._ Meiss lets acedia flow from behind him and flop along the length of the island. It stops next to Frederica, who doesn't do anything in response.

"Is this magic you are familiar with?"

"…No."

"Ok. That information dump leads onto our true topic. On the way here, while traveling from Arlam to this mansion specifically, Rem and I observed a pack of demonbeasts. I am confident in the warding stone's protection, but the reason I am mentioning this is because I got a tingle."

"A tingle?"

Meiss turns his head to the side and points to the nape of his neck.

"When close in proximity, wielders of an authority can sense each other. This ability manifests itself as a sort of intense prickle or itch on the nape if I were to describe it. As if that wasn't bad enough, it followed us. The demonbeasts I mean. Holders of an authority must be either human, demi-human, something in between those two, or a spirit. What I'm trying to say is that I have suspicion that an archbishop with the authority to control demonbeasts is targeting this mansion."

Frederica closes her eyes and corrects her posture. She folds her arms and places a finger on her chin.

"That is… grave. What is the timeframe we should expect for this?"

"I would say about a week, since their damn gospels are actually pretty short-sighted. Actually just in case, does this place have any safe-houses or escape tunnels by chance?"

"There is one, either Petra or I will show you it's whereabouts tomorrow. Excuse me, I am going to check the warding stones that are currently guarding us."

"Thanks for not freaking out and attacking me after I said I had an authority."

"You had plenty of opportunities to harm everyone here yet never took them Meiss-sama. You also have the favor and friendship of Subaru-sama, the one who spearheaded the subjugation of the Hakugei and Sloth."

Meiss looks down.

"I didn't really do anything though."

"You bested Greed, and defeated Gluttony right? That is reason enough to place a certain amount of trust in you."

—

_Narrator time: Two days have passed. These days were fruitful in preparation for the impending struggle to be had at the Roswaal mansion. Now, our teenager is waking from a dreamless night…_

Meiss slowly blinks his eyes open as early morning sunlight filters through his window. He sits up in his bed, placing the time stone he sleeps with on his bed-side table. Meiss fully departs from his bed and walks over to the dresser in his room. There is a small mirror above it. Meiss can see his messy and poofy bed hair sticking up all over the place.

He brushes it, relishing in the feeling of having straight hair for this small period of time. The blonde's hair usually takes a split-second to jump back into curls after brushing. Reaching behind him, Meiss pulls down his hair. It reaches a little past the bottom of his neck, not much though.

"I have proper shoulder-length hair."

_Not a problem._

Meiss stops messing with his hair, leaving it to curl back up in the back. He opens his drawers and takes a look at his attire. _The only proper clothing I have is my sweater and bubble-vest. Everything else is Ferris's set of hand-me-downs or sleepwear._ Meiss shrugs off his current sleepwear and puts on a set of less sleepwear-looking sleepwear.

_It's been two days. Mental checklist go. Warding stones: good condition. Access to volatile lagmite: granted. Use of that lagmite: yard destruction in progress._

Meiss was initially hesitant to use the volatile lagmite since they would deform the land and possibly damage the mansion. Frederica had been having no reserves though, and was adamant in defending their lives with little regard to building and landscape damage. She even went so far as to say that even if the mansion was destroyed, they could move into Roswaal's main mansion.

Roswaal is richer than Meiss originally thought.

In that talk, Meiss also inquired about the mainstream spells that others often used so that he could better understand what fighting force they had. So he had learned the basic offensive spells of each element minus Yin and Yang, as Frederica didn't know.

Currently, Meiss is briskly walking down the hall to where he, Rem and Frederica had been discussing plans. It was a little side room used for lounging, ironic since everything that had been taking place within involved pseudo-war discussions.

Rem and Frederica were already there and seated. Meiss sits in one of the chairs around a small circular coffee table and leans forward, ready to start this discussion.

"As Meiss-sama knows, the woodland surrounding the mansion is heavily populated with demonbeasts. My heightened senses tell me that we are surrounded. Setting up deterrents and traps in advance was the obvious play as we are heavily outnumbered."

"I have to thank that nose of yours, to think you could transform into a giant leopard really stunned me. So first off, we decided that Rem will be on the mansion's roof and using water magic to attack."

Currently at the mansion, Rem is the most skilled in magic. Frederica can also use magic, but it is of lower quality and she is a primarily close-combat fighter like Meiss.

"Rem will also be responsible for setting off the fire lagmite placed around the yard. Second, and you have been doing this well, Frederica with her heightened senses is our primary form of surveillance."

Even though Rem has a heightened sense of smell, Frederica with her ancestral return can smell further away and with more clarity. This is also coupled with her heightened eyesight and hearing.

"And then I will be responsible for trying to cut off the head."

While lacking in ranged capabilities, Meiss is a strong close-range fighter. He would be responsible for fighting the ringleader while everyone else fends off the demonbeasts. Still only Meiss and Rem know that Elsa is going to attack. So Meiss is volunteering to possibly take on two different opponents.

Meiss crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

"This… I have never planned something like this so thank you girls for helping with the planning. We are still open to suggestions; I'm all planned out so don't expect anything from me."

Frederica reclines in her chair to think. Rem shoots off a suggestion.

"While Rem's magic is average-"

"Low-high."

"…Low-high, Rem's mana reserves run out quickly, so a few mana lagmite would be nice. In addition, some fire crystals on-hand would help if the beasts are too tightly packed for Rem to shoot the explosive stones with el huma. Rem also wonders if Meiss tried to ask Beatrice-sama to help?"

"That's a no go, she refused again."

Rem, finishing her suggestion, returns to sitting on her chair. Her and Meiss look to Frederica, who ponders in silence for a second more before reentering the conversation.

"We could fell the trees close to the mansion's surrounding wall, this would give us a line of sight in advance to them breaking through the warding stones. We could also plant warding stones in the yard to increase the effectiveness of the bombs. Another idea would be to place gravel over the fire lagmite to create small missiles."

Meiss puts his hand to his chin and mulls over Frederica's proposals. They were all good.

"That all seems excellent, but we can't surround the entirety of the fire lagmite in gravel since that would risk us damaging ourselves."

"Then let's put these revisions into action, Meiss-sama, Rem-sama."

"Then Rem decrees this meeting adjourned."

—

It's been about twenty minutes since the "war council" ended. The mansion residents immediately put everything into action. Most of the explosives had already been planted the day before and only two or three remained. Rem and Frederica had been planting the warding stones in the ground around the fire lagmite to constrict the demonbeast traffic to near the explosives, so Petra is left to show Meiss the way to the escape tunnel.

In comparison to everything, the escape tunnel was one of the least urgent things on the list.

Meiss is using acedia to easily cut down the trees in a seven meter distance from the mansion's wall. He doesn't even notice Petra come up behind him until she tugs on his sleeve.

"Meiss-sama, we're going to check out the evacuation tunnel, correct?"

"Oh, small child. Let me get this tree before we go."

The tree stood no chance.

The two shorties enter the mansion and make their way to a certain room.

"Is this the clown's study?"

"Yes, the tunnel is on the other side of those bookcases over there."

Petra briefly points to a bookcase that is flush with the other bookcases next to it. Together they make up one wall. The ginger maid walks over to a statue and flips up the head. Her body is blocking his vision, so Meiss assumes she presses a button or pulls a lever or something, because the bookcase suddenly swings inwards. Meiss peers into the dark tunnel for a second before Petra activates a lamp on the wall, revealing a spiral staircase.

_The statue is kinda cliche, but I'm thankful we have this to lean back on just in case._

Petra walks down the stairs, and Meiss follows. The maid activates the lamps as they go, illuminating the way ahead. They would probably be able to make their way down without the lamps because of a dull ambient light coming from somewhere. So the lamps must be for ease of travel.

"Small child."

"Could you have chosen a worse nickname?"

"Probably if I thought hard enough… I just wanted to say that if anything goes wrong we are prioritizing getting you out of here."

They reach the bottom of the staircase. There is a small room with a door at the opposite end. Wide enough for two Meiss' to stand with their arms spread out. Petra turns to face the blonde with an annoyed expression on her face.

"I feel totally useless since you guys won't let me help! I'm basically an adult now, I don't see why I can't!"

She crosses her arms and stands in front of Meiss. Meiss can remember her upbeat and semi-rebellious attitude from the week in his memory, so he was wondering when something like this would happen. The blonde stops and looks at Petra.

"How old are you?"

"Almost thirteen! That's an adult!"

Meiss sighs, she was a tad older than he thought. Meiss himself was only a few weeks into the age of sixteen when he was nabbed on the sidewalk. He can sympathize with Petra's rebellious nature and desire to show her maturity, but like it or not, she is still a kid. Hell, Meiss is still a kid. The difference though, is that Meiss is a lot harder to kill.

"Cast el huma on me, aim straight for my chest."

"Eh, but-"

"Even if there was a single strike that could fell a hundred men, it wouldn't hurt me if I saw it coming. Give me your strongest el huma."

"Ok then, el huma!"

The icicle forms and shoots at Meiss. The blonde stands still and takes it square in the chest. The icicle hits him with a little force, like a middle-schooler's push, but crumbles like a snowball upon impact. The little snowflakes dissipate into mana after floating for a second.

Petra deflates upon witnessing the failure of her attack.

"Now cast huma."

"Huma."

The small shield of water forms around Petra. Some of her confidence returns upon the successful casting of the spell.

Meiss pushes against the water bubble. It gives a little, like squeezing a balloon but with more resistance. Then he draws a manganese spike from his gate and swipes it through the bubble, careful not to hit Petra. The bubble pops with a sound like a bubble popping.

Meiss draws the manganese spike up to his left forearm, and rolls up his sleeve. His scarred skin reveals itself to the world, and Petra gasps a little when she sees the marred skin. Meiss brings the manganese spike up to his forearm and cuts himself. Not deep, a superficial cut that does nothing more than break skin.

Blood oozes out of the cut as Meiss shows the wound to Petra.

"Heal this."

"O-ok."

Petra raises her hands to the cut, gentle blue light pouring from her palms. The cut mends slowly, but surely. Meiss pulls his arm away from Petra after a minute passes. The cut is still open, but Meiss will be ok.

"But I wasn't done."

"Petra, I don't mean to be so cruel, but you would be practically useless during this battle. You may have the mana capacity to keep going, but that doesn't matter if what you're dishing out doesn't cut it."

Meiss feels bad for doing this, but he needed Petra to understand. Meiss averts his gaze when he sees her start to tear up. It looked exactly like when they were back on the roof last memory, with her sobs inflicting critical hits on him.

"P-petra, just because you're like this now doesn't mean it'll be forever. This place has many skilled magic users that would be happy to teach you and help you grow stronger."

Meiss risks a glance at Petra and can see that her sadness is transforming into anger. Even though he kind of deserves it, Meiss fears retaliation from the small child.

"Anyways, you don't need to come with me."

"No, Frederica nee-sama asked me to so I will."

Meiss sighed. If she was going to be stubborn so be it.

The blonde grasped the door handle. It was quite cold, which makes sense considering it was underground and away from any heat. He opens the door.

"Oh hell."

Meiss feels a familiar feeling. Of cold metal lancing through his abdomen. A metal throwing dart. He starts to fall forward, but drags out a foot to catch himself. The blonde throws himself in front of Petra as another dart is flung at the maid. This one bounces off his back and clatters to the ground. Meiss throws his arm out behind him, picturing the hallway he caught a glimpse of. Meiss puts his hands on Petra's shoulders and gently pushes her away.

"RUN! Find Rem or Frederica and tell them that this tunnel is compromised by the guthunter! GO!"

Petra hurriedly turns around and dashes for the stairs. She expects to hear more of those metal darts whizzing through the air, but all that greets her ears is silence as Meiss stands back up and faces down the hallway.

The small maid almost trips a few times running up the stairs. She bursts out of Roswaal's study, sweating more in anxiousness and fear than as a result of exercise. Petra looks down the hallway both ways before choosing one direction and running.

Petra glances out the windows as she passes them, looking for either Rem or Frederica. She nearly trips over herself when she spots someone entirely different. A little girl with blue hair, around Petra's own age, pulling a green gem from the mansion's wall.

—

"My my, how cruel you are for being so mean to a little girl!"

Meiss stares unblinking at the cloaked figure down the hallway. He had set up a quiescence earlier after saving Petra from the throwing dart. Currently, this is the only thing separating the two from flying at each other.

"You're two days early."

The guthunter reaches behind herself and pulls one of her kukris out into the dim light. She spins it around in her hand before raising it up to her head and staring at Meiss over the flat of the blade. Specifically, at his abdomen.

"Well, we were told to wait for another two days, but now that you've come knocking I had to answer."

"Well that's important info that was just casually dumped."

"It's useless now, since I was found."

_How long has she been here?_

The blonde runs his hand through his hair, dissipating the quiescence. Barely noticeable, but causing a slight shift in the light, guarding those inside against physical and reality-altering attacks, this is a quiescence. The only barrier between them is now gone.

Meiss levels his stare and approaches Elsa.

"Oh? You seem to know who I am, yet you would rather fight than flee?"

"It's impossible for you to remember, but I promised to beat the shit out of you; and I didn't get my fill last time when I made you a doughnut."

"He's gone insane from fear! This guy is wonderful!"

Meiss draws a manganese spike from his gate and throws it at Elsa in one fluid motion. The guthunter reacts fast, catching the metal in her hand. She moves the point from in front of her face and twirls it around to inspect it.

"You're quite lacking when it comes to this it seems; I would guess you have just started using throwing weapons, no?"

Meiss refuses to respond. There wasn't enough time for Beatrice to make his xiphos again, and the blonde didn't really want to force that work upon her without him helping, so he never asked in the first place. Despite this, he was given access to the mansion's limited armory. Now it makes sense that this is the second mansion, since there is so little here. Anyways, Meiss pulls a loaner short-sword from his gate. It's a simple thing, the it-looks-like-an-ordinary-sword-but-shorter type. This would be the first time he is using a melee weapon in combat, and boy does that extra weight in his hand feel out of place.

Meiss throws another manganese spike at Elsa, dashing forward to try and get a hit in when she dodges or catches the projectile. The guthunter steps to the side, lowering her body and dashing at Meiss.

A few orbs of orange light flicker into existence as blade scrapes against blade.

—

"Meili?"

Petra stops in her tracks, watching as the girl removes a warding stone from the wall. The maid hasn't seen Meili in almost four weeks, so her sudden appearance is a shock.

It finally clicks that the blue-haired girl is removing a warding stone. Petra swings open the window, catching Meili's attention. Petra doesn't know where or why the girl has returned, only that she's sabotaging the warding stones.

"El huma!"

The maid launches a projectile of ice at the girl. Meili ducks and the attack piffs against a tree.

"FREDERICA NEE-SAMA, REM-SAMA!"

Almost immediately, a stronger volley of ice finds itself shooting towards Meili. The girl ducks to avoid a few of them before hopping over the wall. Jumping into Petra's view, Rem strikes out with her morningstar. The heavy ball topples a section of the wall. Seemingly not satisfied, Rem prepares to run over and pursue Meili. Frederica comes into view, placing a hand on Rem's shoulder and whispering a few words to the oni. Together, the two turn around and start running to the mansion.

Petra abandons the window and starts running herself. She makes it to the mansion's main lobby just as Frederica and Rem slam open the doors. Petra hurriedly climbs down the stairs.

"Frederica nee-sama! Meiss is fighting someone right now!"

"What?!"

"He said it was the 'guthunter,' she was waiting in the escape tunnel!"

Frederica widens her eyes and turns to Rem.

"Rem-sama, up to the roof! Remember to wait until it's crowded to set off the fire lagmite!"

Rem runs up the stairs and disappears from view. Frederica leans down to be on Petra's level and places a warding stone in the girl's hand.

"Take this and find somewhere to hide."

Petra nods, and gives Frederica a big hug. The tall maid returns it before standing up to start barricading the door. Petra watches for a second before turning around and running off.

—

"Tch."

Meiss backs up a little, sword raised in front of his body in a neutral stance.

"I can tell you are not accustomed to this, your handling and technique leave much to be desired."

"Well, this is the first time I've fought with a sword. I have no intentions of losing though."

Elsa lets her arms hang at her sides, the kukri coming close to cutting her leg.

"I've been toying too long, this is getting quite boring."

Meiss pushes off the ground, swinging the sword at Elsa. She raises her blade and smacks Meiss' blade away. Slowly, telegraphed, Elsa takes aim at Meiss' abdomen. The blonde jumps back and returns to his neutral stance.

"Of course it's boring, I'm stalling for some extra time."

Seeing that as he is now the short-sword would be more of a hindrance, Meiss decides to stop using it. Instead of dropping it or storing it in his gate like a pleb, he decides to throw it at Elsa and high tail it outta there.

Elsa responds by throwing her kukri. The black blade spins through the air towards Meiss. The blonde spins around, using acedia to melt the blade before it reaches him. He sees Elsa's surprised expression before pulling fire lagmite from his gate. Meiss throws the crystals and they smash into the ground. While not as strong as nitroglycerin, it has the same property of exploding when encountering stimuli.

Meiss chucks a handful of the fire crystals at Elsa and sprints up the stairs. He feels a jolt deep in his bones and a pain in his ears when the crystals explode, and he shakes off the dust that rains from the ceiling. Cracks in the stonework widen above Meiss as he takes the steps twice at a time, his height not allowing him to do more. He can feel heat and flames licking his back when his foot is suddenly yanked out from underneath him.

"Gya!"

Meiss throws out his hands to save himself from bouncing his head against the stairs. He activates stagno a heartbeat too late and feels his skin start to sting because of the sweltering heat. The hand on his foot drags Meiss down a few steps as he flips over, trying to get his bearings for a counterattack. The blonde jerks his head to the side as a kukri hits the stone where his head was previously. Instead of bouncing off, the blade cuts through the stone and imbeds itself halfway. Meiss summons acedia, the wire snapping from his head like a whip and cutting off Elsa's hand. The guthunter looms over him in the orange heat.

"Such power, akin to Mother's!"

"Your mother…"

Meiss kicks the guthunter off of him. The woman's skin is marred in blisters and blackened skin. She lands a few steps down, still within range.

"Must've been pretty shit at her job!"

Meiss swipes his hand through the heat, acedia aiming to cut Elsa in half. The woman dodges by bending her torso. Seeing Elsa in this unstable position, Meiss summons a fire stone and chucks it at the guthunter. In the same motion, he grabs the kukri next to his head and turns Elsa's hand into dust. The lagmite explodes, sending dust and stone flying as well as making Meiss wince from the sound at this closer distance. The blonde pulls the weapon from the stone and starts running again. He glances back as he hears the stone crack once more.

"Ha ha HA! I look forward to a proper dance!"

Meiss pays these words no heed, turning his head back to the front so as to not trip over the stairs. He bursts into Roswaal's study, which has caught on fire around the escape tunnel entrance, and hears the stone behind him finally give in. The sound of stone scraping against stone is unnerving and gives Meiss the chills. He runs from the clown's study into the hallway.

—

Rem breaths heavy, a depleted mana crystal st her feet as she fires ice into the growing crowd of demonbeasts. _Rem expected a large number, but not this many!_

In particular, the oni is looking for that girl. She remembers the wulgarm incident and the blue-haired girl that disappeared afterwards. _So that's why she left. Rem won't forgive her for what she did to Subaru-kun!_

_—_

Frederica tests the weight of a volatile water crystal in her hand before throwing it at a door. A wall of ice appears, barring access to the mansion from this entrance. _That's the last one._

The maid turns to head to Roswaal's study to assist Meiss. She knows Meiss can hold his own, which is why she didn't rush to him. Now that her immediate duty is done, she will assist in whatever way she can.

—

Petra is breathing heavy, having run with all her might and locked herself in Meiss' room. As her breathing deepens, she glances around and spots some items on his dresser. A black shirt, ragged and destroyed, as well as a pair of pants that aren't much better. Curiously, Petra picks up the strange red-black rock next to the ruined clothing. She almost drops it though when a loud banging sound is heard, along with the floor rumbling. Petra covers her ears because of the loud sound. _What was that? An explosion?_

_—_

Meiss grips the handle of Elsa's kukri as his other hand pats down his flaming day sleepwear. Blood trails down the hallway from a hole straight through his abdomen, the throwing dart having fallen out of his body during his struggle with Elsa. He finds that he has used four of the five lagmite he stored in his gate.

Fear-inducing laughter echoes down the hall.


	22. Siege of the Roswaal Mansion, Part Two

“El Huma!!"

The spears of ice materialize behind Rem and shoot into the crowd without prejudice. There was no reason for such a thing since there were so many demonbeasts that it was hard to see the ground. The warding stones planted under them were useless. They merely acted like a strong suggestion of "don't go here it's bad," it worked against most demonbeasts, but the bodies packed so tightly together overrode that suggestion. Rem scanned the sea of demonbeasts and the treeline further back for any signs of the blue-haired little girl. She seemed to have disappeared after Rem scared her off. Unfortunately, she took the warding stone with her and left a hole in their defences.

Rem reaches down to her feet and picks up a dimly glowing purple-blue crystal. Lagmite specifically for storage of mana. These crystals passively absorb the mana from the atmosphere, recharging themselves for whatever use someone finds of them. Either that or someone deposits their mana directly into the crystal. Rem pilfers the one in her hand, forgetting to leave some mana left within the crystal. With a crack, the lagmite shatters into fine powder in Rem's hand due to her carelessness.

_Rem wonders what Subaru-kun is doing._

Suddenly, three ear splitting cracks echo to her side in rapid succession. The explosions happen under the foundations of the mansion, and as a result, shake the mansion itself. This causes Rem to lose her balance on the slanted roof. She falls to her butt and starts to slide over the roof's tiling. The oni taps into her superhuman strength and plunges her hand into the roof, stopping her descent.

Due to the shape of the Roswaal mansion and where Rem is standing, the oni can see the two wings of the building quite clearly. Another explosion rings out, and Rem can see a plume of smoke seep from a now-broken window. _Roswaal-sama's study. Rem can smell a fire; it's on fire now._

Rem has no time to wonder about what exactly occured, because her oni nose picks up a new scent. A larger demonbeast, no, two larger demonbeasts. As well as the strong smell of that blue-haired little girl. Sauntering in from the forest, over the rubble of the mansion's fence created by Rem, the two beasts in question make themselves known.

A giant pig, with midnight skin and red eyes that contrast menacingly. Atop this pig rested the little girl that had orchestrated the wulgarm incident. At her reveal, Rem feels rage boil under her skin for what she did to her Subaru.

Without the chant, Rem fires a large volley of ice at the girl. Just before she is hit, just before she is shredded, broken, and flung off the pig, the second large demonbeast swipes it's paw through the air. The ice goes flying in a completely new direction as the second beast prows in front of the pig. This one has the likeness of a large black lion with a pure white mane and the torso of a strong horse. Instead of a tail, a striped red and black serpentine extends from the base of it's spine. The lion-like beast growls.

Rem growls deep in her throat as well. This beast dared to protect the one who had inflicted such pain on her beloved? Eyes murderous, Rem fires volley after volley of ice at the pig and lion.

She completely forgets about the explosive lagmite.

—

Frederica is now running to the escape tunnel in response to the explosions that reverberated through the mansion. While she was the initial advocate for going all-out in response to the threat, it would be counterintuitive if the mansion fell while they were still inside.

_I smell blood._

While not as strong as when she transforms, Frederica's sense of smell is several times stronger than that of the average human. Such were the perks of being a quarter-blood. Of course there were the cons as well, but from a purely physical standpoint she was superior.

The maid rounds a corner, and collides with the smell of blood. Stepping back and raising her fists to each other, Frederica prepares for combat. After a second, it clicks who she just ran into. The woman lowers her hands and reaches down to pull the boy she knocked over back onto his feet.

It's Meiss.

The boy is bleeding from a small hole in his abdomen and a few isolated splotches of blood dot his exposed skin. Besides that, his clothing is singed and blackened around the edges and the front has a crispy look to it, like he had jumped on a fire but quickly rolled off. Frederica notices his sleeve smoldering and pats at it until the heat dies.

"Where are you injured?"

So far all Frederica can see of injuries was the small stab wound, the blood splatters everywhere else didn't seem to come from him. While examining his body for more wounds, Frederica notices the weapon in his hands.

"Is that…"

"Yeah, I'll be fine for now."

"So what Petra said was true, the guthunter is here."

"Waiting in the tunn-"

"KA HA HA HA!"

Meiss looks over his shoulder and down the hall. Frederica is tall enough to look over his head. Emerging from the smoking door that leads to Roswaal's study, Elsa Granhiert stalks into view. Not a drop of blood nor a speck of dirt is visible on her beautiful skin or flowing cloak. She is completely free of any burns or even signs of exhaustion.

"WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU JUST DIE!"

Meiss hurls this at the guthunter. Not a question, but more of a statement. He knows that she must have died, she was close enough to touch that fire crystal when it exploded. Not to mention that her hand is now completely reattached to her wrist and her skin is free of burns as if nothing happened.

"Now where's the fun in that? My blessing is a truly wonderful thing to allow me to do this!"

"Enough talk, Ul Goa!"

Frederica spreads her hand and aims at the guthunter. A small bullet of fire whizzes from her palm and down the hall. Elsa has no trouble dodging, and a small explosion can be heard after the fire-bullet reaches the opposite end of the hall. Watching this, Meiss leans back to Frederica and whispers.

"Cover me with that."

Meiss opens distance between him and Frederica, raising his stolen kukri after judging the distance as enough. Elsa sees this and grins, a wide grin that only people with large problems can pull off so effortlessly. That is a category that Elsa falls into quite well.

The guthunter closes the distance fast, aiming for Meiss. The blonde lowers his arm, blocking the kukri that would have passed through his abdomen like a hot knife through butter. He strikes out with his own weapon, but like before, the new weight in his hand is something he is not familiar with and he misses. The guthunter takes a step back to avoid the blade and has to jump to dodge a fire-bullet from Frederica. Meiss seizes this moment and lands a punch into Elsa's gut before she jumps. She hits another fire-bullet which explodes. The force of Meiss' punch overpowers Frederica's Ul goa, so Elsa is flung only a few short meters due to the conflicting forces. She rolls on the ground amidst a sea of colored particles as her cloak dissipates into mana.

Frederica steps in near Meiss. She raises her fists together and the gates on her hands expel her caesti, which neatly slip onto her hands.

Elsa takes just a few seconds to recover. She crouches like a feral cat before jumping to the ceiling. The guthunter uses the ceiling to propel herself at Meiss with more speed than falling after a jump. The blonde responds by raising his kukri to block Elsa's attack. Frederica winds up an attack of her own, slicing at Elsa with the blades on her caestus. Elsa dodges by using her kukri as a leverage point to flip over Meiss' blade. The blonde spins around after he sees Elsa flip over him. He punches her in the side, angling his fist downwards to punt her into the floor. Elsa hits the ground hard, and bounces a little before Meiss hits her again in the face with dolorem++ this time.

Wood snaps and creaks before splintering away as it's fibers cannot support this force. With Meiss' punch as the catalyst the floor caves underneath him, dragging Elsa and Frederica along.

—

Heavy breathing. Not as a result of exercise or moving the body, but more to pull in ample energy if fleeing was ever needed. Of course, fleeing is useless in this situation since escape is not possible, but never tell the human body what to do. It does what it wants.

Heart beating, Petra warily glances out of the window in Meiss' room. This room was on the very end of the mansion's guest wing, and was the furthest from the main entrance on this side of the building. The workers wing, which had Roswaal's study included, was a no-go since that was where Elsa had attacked from.

Finally working up the courage to do more than sneak peaks, Petra fully takes in the state of affairs in regards to the demonbeasts. More than the eye can see or ever hope to count, a writhing mass that belongs in a nightmare. Petra has had her fair share of nightmares about the wulgarm incident, but Subaru was always there to save her in the end. This is reality now and Subaru was hours away by carriage, he wouldn't be coming to save her. Most of the reason that she took this job in the first place was to get closer to him. It's ironic that she was brought in after he had left for that "Sanctuary" place and wouldn't be coming back for a short while.

Petra's breath catches in her throat as she spots two towering beasts in the yard. Their gait was leisurely and unhurried, stark in contrast to the flowing bodies of the smaller demonbeasts below them. Those smaller demonbeasts were hurriedly scurrying out of the paths of the larger beasts, leaving space underneath them. Petra can hear the distant voice of Rem shouting incantations above the demonbeasts. Icicle after icicle after icicle finds itself flying at the two larger demonbeasts, completely ignoring the grunts under them. Meili, who sits atop the giant pig, seems to be having fun with this game of life-and-death.

_What is Rem doing?_

She's firing ice at the demonbeasts. Use your eyes Petra.

What Petra is really wondering about is why Rem hasn't activated the fire lagmite. Along with ones scattered throughout the yard, the explosives were put into a neat line surrounding the mansion, with enough distance between them to cover the entire mansion's perimeter but close enough that the blast of one should set off the one next to it. They were about four fifths done with lining the stones with gravel, only the left side of the mansion and the scattered lagmite were unfinished. The two large demonbeasts were well within the sweet spot of the gravel now.

Yet Rem never once targeted the explosives. The pig continued to stalk closer to the mansion, with the lion defending it from Rem's attacks. Petra notices gravel and the brown of recently overturned earth appear under the pig.

_I'll do it. I'll show them I can be useful._

Glass shatters as Petra throws the weird red-black rock at Meiss' window. She leans out, cutting the side of her hand on a shard of glass. The maid raises her other hand, pointing it at the fleeting chance under the pig.

"EL Huma!"

The crumbly icicle forms behind Petra and shoots out with all her might. The lion thing is too busy guarding Meili from Rem's attacks to notice Petra's attack. The icicle slips under the pig, and hits the loose earth.

It isn't that forceful, but the sensitivity of the fire lagmite to stimuli is so high that the small nudge created by Petra's ice is felt. This small nudge pushes against the lagmite, compressing the ground around it as the ice piffs against the loose earth like a snowball.

The explosion, not muffled by stone and the structure of the mansion around it, is much louder that the explosions earlier. It causes Petra to stumble away from the window and cover her ears in response to the report. The shaking of the ground is less violent by a substantial amount since the foundation of the mansion is not directly affected.

The lagmite was directly underneath the pig when it went off. The gravel packed along one side of the stone shot out, shredding the pig's back legs. It wailed as the explosion itself tore into it's underbelly and lifted it up. A wave of blood washes down from the pig's abdomen as the girl atop it goes flying.

Meili flails out with her arms and legs as she flies through the air. Her terrified scream cuts short as she falls to the ground, landing hard against a decorative bush. Her form is unmoving after hitting the ground.

From the single volatile fire crystal that Petra set off, a chain reaction of explosions sounds out. Petra stays sitting with her ears covered and eyes shut tight as explosion after explosion cracks through the air surrounding the Roswaal mansion. The onslaught lasts thirty seconds, no, a minute, two minutes. Petra doesn't know, she can't discern anything more than the blasts of death and the shrieks of demonbeasts.

—

"GuaAH!"

Meiss tilts as the floor opens up underneath him. He had completely forgotten that they were on the second level when he threw that punch. The hallways are quite large, so it takes a second before he hits the floor of the level below him.

Frederica recovers before him and raises her caesti to the form of Elsa, only to sigh as she sees the woman's neck snapped into an unnatural angle. The head is nearly backwards and the neck itself looks floppy, as if it was stretched out. Meiss finally stands up and looks over the body of the guthunter. Wordless, he backs up and pushes Frederica back as well.

"Meiss-sama, I believe that she is dead."

"No, she's inhuman and can come back after dying. Cover me again, I feel like getting seriously serious."

"It shall be so."

Meiss looks at the kukri in his hand. The weight feels useless in his palm, he has no training and no experience. Turning, he raises the blade over his head with both arms and chucks it at the wall. Picturing what he's seen of people throwing axes, Meiss compliments himself when the kukri sinks into the wall next to a door. The blonde returns to watching Elsa for any signs of movement.

Slowly, like a marionette being pulled up by it's strings, Elsa rises. Her neck snaps back into place, the C vertebrae realigning themselves alongside the reconstructed spinal cord. The torn muscle fibers in her neck weave back together, and her head regains the ability to be raised. A grin alights on her face as she rises to her full height.

Her eyes instantly lock onto the form of Meiss.

The blonde in question spreads his arms. Face stern and grimacing.

"Come at me."

Elsa doesn't waste a second. This is too much fun for her.

Kukri flashing out of nowhere, the black blade finds itself bouncing harmlessly off of Meiss' skin. The boy sends out one of his burning wires to cut Elsa in half. The guthunter jumps over the attack, and over Meiss. Before she lands, Meiss strikes out with his hand, backhanding her into the wall of the hallway.

The guthunter hits the wall with a loud thud and slides down to a sitting position. Meiss turns to watch her slowly rise to her feet, from her mouth pouring a horrid kind of laughter with the potential to haunt dreams. It sends cold shivers up both Meiss and Frederica's backs, though the latter doesn't show it.

She spins another kukri out of nowhere and jumps again. The guthunter corkscrews in the air and hits Meiss over and over like a saw. The blonde raises both his arms and crosses them to block. Her momentum carries her over her quarry. A fire-bullet launched by Frederica hits the ground before Elsa does, the resulting explosion launching her into the air again.

Meiss takes a step before jumping as well. Elsa sees the blonde's approach and swings her kukri. Meiss punches out, his fist covered in acedia. There is no need to protect his hand. The intense heat of acedia melts right through Elsa's kukri and the two fly by each other.

Meiss brings his legs forward to catch himself on the ground. The blonde regains his balance and turns around to the smell of burnt flesh and smoldering carbon. Elsa stands with her back to him, her right arm severed from the shoulder down and laying halfway between them. Meiss hears a small chuckle from the guthunter as she turns around. Elsa raises her remaining hand to her hot face as she blushes like a schoolgirl in love.

"Ugh."

_That expression should never be made in this situation. This woman is a special kind of messed up._

Meiss turns fully to face Elsa, stomping his foot as the acedia on his hand lengthens. The burning tentacle stops at two feet of length, flowing off his arm so smoothly as to be mistaken for his arm lengthening. Elsa continues to giggle to herself, licking her lips seductively as she narrows her gaze once more onto Meiss.

"I have never had the pleasure to dance with someone like you."

_Why that line in every Memory?_

The guthunter reaches behind her and pulls another kukri from her gate. The blade flashes orange as an explosion sounds outside. Meiss risks a glance out the window, and watches as the fire lagmite sets off a chain reaction of explosions that decimate the demonbeasts outside.

Shredded, miced, mangled, their innards taste the outside air for the first and last time as their bodies are torn apart by either the shotgun-like gravel or the raw force of the explosions. Bodies fly, parts of bodies fly, and windows crack from the sound of explosions and animalistic cries of pain and rage.

—

"…"

Rem watches silently atop the mansion as the explosions tear through the yard. Clods of dirt fly in tandem with pieces of flesh to paint a gruesome picture. The pig suffers heavy damage and the girl on top of it goes flying. The lion-thing is shielded from the nearest blast by the pig, but loses half of it's serpentine tail to the gravel.

_What does Nee-sama always say… Rem wonders who set them off._

The explosions this time do not shake the mansion as much, since they do not occur under the mansion. The sound though is much louder since there is nothing to muffle it. Despite this deafening sound, Rem does not cover her ears. Instead, she looks at the wings of the Roswaal mansion to either side of her. After a few seconds of looking around, she spots Meiss' window not just cracked but completely shattered. The oni can't see who is there, but they must have set off the fire lagmite.

Rem returns her blue gaze to the severely reduced demonbeast numbers. What was once a sea of bodies has been reduced to a manageable drizzle. The oni has just one mana crystal left. It's time for Rem to get her hands dirty.

Rem reaches to her underarm, between her biceps and triceps, and pulls the handle of her morningstar from her blue gate. The chains rattle and clank against one another before the head of her weapon makes itself known.

The oni jumps down from the roof of the Roswaal mansion. It's time to begin cleanup.

The head of her morningstar cracking the wind is a common sound now, and often the last sound a demonbeast hears before it's torso is deleted by Rem. Spinning out, around, under, over, through; none of these grunts stand a chance against her. The lethality is increased by the fact that the remaining demonbeasts are now packed together, the warding stones still in the ground working as intended.

Her chain wraps around a neck, the new arc sends the ball of her morningstar through three more demonbeasts as the first demonbeast loses it's head. Rem pulls no punches. The numbers of the assaulting forces are barely worth the trouble, some of the assorted demonbeasts even fleeing into the woods.

Adjusting her footing against the spinning force of her weapon, Rem feels something under her foot. Looking down, Rem sees that it's the girl, now with a shoe print on her arm. Rem smiles; she lost track of the little girl when the explosions started, but now Rem has found her. This little girl's crimes extend beyond Subaru-kun, the children of Arlam village would have died had her plot succeeded. There is no telling what else she has done.

Rem averts her gaze from the girl when the feeling of the ground shaking hits her legs. The lion takes a swipe at her, and Rem jumps backwards to avoid the fatal claws. Her morningstar swings out in a wide arc at the advancing lion, the ball fading into a blur. Noticing the blur of death, the lion jumps as he runs. Silently, like the apex predator that he is, the lion advances.

Rem does a running start before jumping over the lion, firing ice into the lion as the top of her parabola. She hits the ground lightly behind the lion as it turns around, some of the ice being shaken off it's back and mane. Rem swings behind her with her morningstar, using the weight of the weapon to spin her around. The strike misses as the lion steps back. Rem lets out an animalistic roar as she raises the handle of her weapon above her. The path of the morningstar's head is changed, and a powerful downwards strike is realized. The lion, not predicting this fluid manipulation of the weapon, loses some of the skin covering it's ribs as it sidesteps.

Rem steps back, bracing herself to pull her morningstar from it's place in the ground. After a sharp tug, she finds it stuck. _Weird, Rem's strength should be able to pull this through solid stone, even without her horn._ Surprise flickers across the ex-maid's face as she sees the lion looking at the spiked ball in it's paw. The lion throws the head of the morningstar to the side, and Rem is forced to let go lest she be flung away as well.

"RRUUUUAAAAAOOOOOO!"

Rem lets loose a more guttural scream as the air begins to distort around her forehead. Fizzing pink energy crackles as a smooth bone-like horn extends from the middle of her forehead. To Rem, it brings with it a feeling of release and shocking cold as her senses suddenly go into overdrive. The glowing pink horn parts the oni's hair as she digs the ball of her foot into the ground. Still roaring like an animal, Rem launches herself towards the lion-thing. The lion charges as well, landing lightly on it's front paws so it can bring them up to attack.

"EL HUMAA!"

Mana being pulled into the horn allows Rem to go overboard with the cast of this spell. An imposing wall of icicles manifests behind the oni as she shoots over the ground. Rem lets loose El Huma as she jumps, letting the lion run into the attack as she rises above it. Stretching out her arm and using her other arm to brace it, Rem shouts once more.

"AL HUMA!"

Four large spears of ice sparkle and grow behind the oni as she hangs in the air dramatically. The spears, no, they're more like battering rams, of ice shoot off like the spinning chamber of a revolver. The ice rams imbed themselves several feet into the ground around the lion as it dodges them. One clips the lion's tail, severing the rest of the bloody stump.

Rem starts to fall, the forces of gravity taking hold of her once more. The lion charges at her, silent as ever, and swipes it's paw through the air. Having nothing to push off of or use to dodge, Rem braces her arm against the powerful blow.

"GYAAA!"

Rem hears the distinctive snap of broken bones. The lion roars, completing the swipe and sending her over to the mansion. The oni hears more snaps and cracks as she hits the mansion's door. The ice barricading the entrance crumbles and shatters against the force of her body, before the doors fly inward and off their hinges.

—

"WRYYY!"

Meiss snaps both his arms above his head to block the kukri's path to his head.

"Ul Goa!"

Elsa looks behind her, still suspended above Meiss. The blonde uses the opportunity to grab her arms. The explosion from Ul Goa hitting Elsa topples Meiss, and he flings the guthunter behind him as he falls onto his back. After a second, he hears her body hit the wall. Expecting her to jump off and attack him, Meiss rolls out of the way.

A thud, and the cracking of ice fills everyone's ears as the mansion's main doors are burst inwards and go flying. Meiss uses this distraction down the hall to rise to his feet, yet almost loses his footing halfway through standing up when he sees Rem bounce against the stairs. Her body slides down a few steps, and Meiss has the urge to run over there. Yet present problems force him to stay here, like the kukri heading for his face…

Meiss foregoes dodging or blocking, letting the blade bounce uselessly against his head. He shoots out his hands, grabbing Elsa's extended and only arm. Frederica shoots the guthunter again with a fire-bullet. The maid's aim is true, and Elsa is pushed by the explosion of fire. The recoil from this shot lets Meiss force his hand closer to Elsa.

Meiss has touched his first boob. It's soft kinda; moldable. Like memory foam but not as hard. It's not really an intimate thing, since his hand burns through Elsa's body a barely noticeable fraction of a second later. The short acedia sprouting from his hand melts straight through the left side of Elsa's chest and out her right shoulder blade. Straight through her heart. Meiss squeezes his eyes shut. _God, that blood is gross…_ He can feel her blood running down his arm, and a faint brushing against his skin as the remaining parts of her heart try to uselessly beat.

Meiss turns to Frederica, and sees that she is already doing what he was going to ask. The blonde removes his arm from Elsa's chest cavity, worrying about Rem and what would happen if the guthunter healed around his arm.

Frederica sprints over to the stairs, El huma behind her. The icicles fire off in quick succession at a black and white lion-esque beast with a weird torso, forcing it to back off from almost attacking Rem.

"Ul Huma!"

Frederica shouts this, and a long, misshapen rod of ice forms behind her. The rod shoots at the base of the stars and molds into a slightly transparent wall. The unconscious Rem is protected for now. Defence taken care of, Frederica lurches over as her arms morph into that of a leopard's. Her maid uniform rips and tears away as she fully transforms into a sandy-blonde leopard without any spots. The perfect color for savannah grass, she would blend in perfectly.

"Guiltylowe!"

Her large feline form barrels into the guiltylowe. This sends them rolling over the ground like two streetcats fighting. They try to bite each other's necks while digging and kicking their hindlegs against each other.

Meiss hears a shaky breath, and whips his head around to see Elsa slowly rising to her feet. The hole in her chest is sealed and looks no different from before she was ever injured. Her arm is also back, prompting Meiss to look at where her severed arm lies on the ground. That's still there. So she just regenerates everything from scratch?

Meiss spreads his feet, lowering himself into a more stable position as Elsa stares somewhat blankly at him. She reaches behind her, to the gate on her lower back, life returning to her dull eyes as her face creases into a blushing smile.

"It's time to get serious, I'm almost at my limit."

Meiss raises his fists in a simple stance.

"You've failed the one-liner gatcha."

Elsa whips her arms from behind her back, revealing a stark-white and weirdly thick kukri as well as a serrated midnight-black kukri. Her smile widens as Meiss tenses a little at this change in weaponry.

_DOON!_

Meiss flinches as this loud, explosion-like sound ricochets through the hall. Seeing as there is a sudden and great increase in speed, accompanied by a visible cone of air around Elsa, Meiss can only guess this must be the phenomenon known as a sonic boom. Elsa spins like a corkscrew again as her colored kukri's flash in the daylight.

The guthunter is moving too fast for Meiss to accurately block her attack, so the boy gambles on the direction she's spinning to be the side she will attack from. The blonde holds out his left forearm, shielding it, along with his entire left side, in stagno. The heavy white kukri slams into his arm.

_Krkrrkr…_

White. Just like the kukri. This feeling overcomes Meiss for a second as he strikes out. The feeble attack completely misses, whiffing through the air as Meiss stumbles because of the air-cone slamming into him. His forearm hurts like hell now, and he struggles to twist it. The skin is unbroken though, so he has no idea what state his arm is in now.

Elsa backs off and jumps to the side. She lands on the wall and runs along the vertical surface. Meiss' eyes have trouble following the blur of black clothing and pale skin. The guthunter runs past Meiss, jumping off the wall and bouncing once against the ground. She changes directions after hitting the opposite wall, facing Meiss again, and shoots up the surface and onto the ceiling with another sonic boom. The guthunter, features indiscernible because of her speed, attacks once more.

This time it's her black kukri. The serrated blade seems to tear apart the very air as it travels towards Meiss. The blonde, not wanting to risk another injury like whatever state his forearm is in now, bends backwards into a precarious position. He also shoots an acedia out, attempting to remove the black blade from the equation. His attempt is mostly successful, as the serrated blade is severed from the handle. Unfortunately, the flying blade hits his shoulder and flays some skin as well as burnt clothing off. The sting of air is trivial in comparison to his forearm though, and Meiss shrugs the former off.

Elsa's momentum carries her past Meiss, and she flips in the air. Her white kukri seems to extend and whip around before Meiss realises that it's that snake-sword he saw last Memory. The blades near the handle are visible, but Meiss can't see the tip of the sword because it's moving so fast. Once more determining that trying to block would be counterintuitive, Meiss jumps back. He again sends out acedia as the whip bounces off the ground and speeds towards him.

"Hk-!"

Meiss cuts off the very end, severing a few of the strung-together blades. They continue to travel though, spinning through the air and slicing through the skin of Meiss' chest. The blades continue up and imbed themselves into his left collarbone, leaving a red streak behind them.

Elsa stares as Meiss hits the ground and stumbles. The blonde hurriedly raises his gaze to the guthunter, more wary of her than ever before. While Meiss' reaction time is faster than the average human's, at about 170-ish milliseconds while most people are around 250-280 milliseconds, he can barely perceive Elsa's movements now. _How the hell does a human reach supersonic speeds? Wait, this is a different world so rules from beyond the Cascade don't apply here!_

Elsa discards the useless handle of the black kukri by dropping it. Much slower this time, Elsa rushes at Meiss, swinging her white kukri. The blonde responds by raising his pained arm and bracing the entire appendage in stagno. The two collide.

_KRAK!_

"WRRYYYYYyYyAaAaAaAHuHaA!"

Screaming his pain and wrath, Meiss uses his other arm to brace the one holding off the kukri. _FUCK! That hurts that hurts that hurts THAT HURTS!_ Elsa pushes the thick blade into his arm. While it has a blade, it would be more accurate to call the white kukri a club. Meiss pushes back, his voice breaking as the pain suddenly increases. The blonde is dimly aware of his forearm being bent in the middle.

Elsa giggles like a creepy little girl. Meiss pushes past the white feeling he has and sends acedia out from his bleeding chest. The tentacle shoots itself through Elsa's forearm and through her shoulder. The sudden loss of her forearm muscles and shoulder muscles cause her to drop the white kukri. Spinning around, she snatches the weapon from the air and sends it into Meiss' upper torso, his ribs.

_KraRAK KRAK KRAK!_

The sudden blow from the unexpected angle forces the wind out of Meiss' lungs. He didn't have time to move stagno. Along with his breath, spittle flies out of Meiss' open mouth as Elsa follows through with her swing. Meiss is sent into the wall, next to a door.

_DOON!_

_I haven't even started falling yet!_ Meiss sees the white death of Elsa's kukri descending from above. The blonde reaches out to his right, jerking his head to the side as he does. He grabs the stolen kukri he threw into the wall earlier and yanks it free. Barely needing any strength, Elsa's speed sends her into Meiss' weapon as her white kukri hits.

_KAK!_

With an anguished yell, Meiss finally falls to the floor. All feeling from his left side is gone now, replaced with searing pain. He doesn't even need to look to know that his left collarbone is bent at an unnatural angle, like something from a geometry textbook. His breathing is shallow, despite his body's need for oxygen. That blow to his ribs was nasty, and now it hurts to take even the smallest breath. He looks down with his eyes, scared to move his neck for fear that may cause more damage.

Elsa is no doubt dead. Meiss' kukri had almost cut her head in half diagonally. It's funny, all he did was hold the weapon up and her speed did the rest of the work. Meiss reclines against the wall, his ribs screaming in protest. The piece of the white kukri embedded in the blonde's collarbone lies a few feet away on the ground. He takes a larger gulp of air, immediately regretting it when pain shoots through his body. The blonde tenses his abdomen in pain.

—

Petra watches from the top of the stairs. She was getting antsy after watching Rem get smacked into the mansion and left to investigate. She watches as Frederica in beast mode barrels into the lion, shouting what was probably the name of it's species. The leopard and guiltylowe roll along the ground, clawing and biting at each other while hitting the walls.

Petra tugs the vest tighter around her shoulders. Wearing the blonde's extra layer made her feel safer, more protected. She didn't have her arms through the armholes, wearing it like a cape.

Petra watches the feral fight for a few more seconds in silence before she moves. Rem is still unconscious on the stairs, a face of pain set upon her. Petra slowly rushes down the stairs and kneels with one leg on a higher stair over Rem. The maid can't see what exactly is wrong with her, but she must have a few broken bones from hitting the stairs and door. Blood trickles down the side of her sky-blue head.

The small maid has no worries of being harmed, her big sis' wall of ice looked dependable. She slips her arms under Rem's and starts to drag her up the stairs and away from the fighting. The woman cries out in pain at being moved, but is still asleep when the sound fades into small whimpers. Petra stops in worry for a second, before continuing to drag Rem up the stairs. She's light.

Breathing a little harder, Petra makes it to the top of the stairs. Her slight fatigue is from holding her arms in the position to drag Rem, not Rem's weight. Petra takes a moment to watch Frederica and the guiltylowe fight some more.

The two have opened up distance between them, and are stalking around each other. Frederica's tail lashes angrily. The guiltylowe's stump wags angrily.

"El Huma! El Goa!"

The leopard speaks, surprising Petra since she would think Frederica can't talk in that form. Flame jets from the front of Frederica, it looks like she's breathing fire. The guiltylowe dodges to the side and rushes in to swipe, getting a face-full of ice in return. Frederica takes this opportunity to swipe, her claws glinting off the sun.

"Goa!"

A small flame, barely more than what would be on a torch, flies from Frederica and sets the guiltylowe's mane on fire. The white fur crumbles and blackens, making it uniform with the rest of it's body. Frederica's swipe hits the guiltylowe, and her claws snag on the remaining fur. The leopard pulls herself onto the burning guiltylowe and resumes their rolling around.

Petra turns from the fight and starts to drag Rem down the hall. She hears a triumphant roar laced with Frederica's voice. The leopard has prevailed, the throat of her quarry beneath her torn out. The blood of the guiltylowe stains the carpets.

—

White.

Meiss has heard many expressions that use color. Red with anger, tickled pink, fading to black, green with envy. There are a lot of them for a lot of colors, but the only one he can think of for white is "white as a sheet."

Meiss is not as white as a sheet, his face is rather flushed. A result of needing to pull in air but restricting his breathing because breathing hurts. What Meiss sees is a faint white around the edges of his vision. White, the absence of darkness and contamination. His breathing slows a little more, and the pain lessens as well.

_Thunk... thunk._

Meiss turns slightly, his torso screaming in his ears. A door behind him is trying to open. The return of sharp pain whisks away the white in his vision. His arms and legs feel like bags full of either osmium or iridium, it's useless to try and move them, so he just slumps to the side. He hits the ground gently, but still starts to hurt. This allows the door to push him out of the way. The blonde groans as his mostly uninjured side drags against the ground.

"Hmph, you look horrible I suppose."

Meiss weakly rolls over and laughs. He then drapes his hand over his chest as his ribs start to hurt sharply again. The blonde forces his eyes to see through the pain and at Beatrice as she leans out of her library. As his gaze clears, he notices something about Beatrice.

"Have… You been…?"

Beatrice waves her hand dismissively.

"Betty has done nothing of the sort. Your pain-filled eyes deceive you in fact."

The spirit looks at the body of Elsa, the kukri embedded firmly halfway through her skull. She then reaches down and presses her hand gently onto Meiss' shoulder, careful not to press too hard.

"Murak."

The blonde lifts gently up into the air. Beatrice opens the door wider since Meiss is no longer blocking it and pushes him in. He floats listlessly for a second before Beatrice walks up to him and undoes the spell. He thumps against the ground from his minute distance above it and flinches in pain. He then flinches in pain because he flinched in pain. He then flinches in pain because he flinched in pain, which happened because he flinched in pain…

The spirit runs her tiny hands lightly down his body, inspecting every injury. The blonde rolls his head over to look at her work. It looks effortless, though she hasn't actually begun healing. Then he looks past her, to a book lying open on the ground. _Strange, why would she have a blank book?_ The spirit steps back with a finger to her chin.

"Betty wonders how you are still coherent. Excluding the nicks and burns both left forearm bones are broken, snapped in half in fact, your left collarbone is almost sticking out, three ribs are broken, and three more are fractured I suppose."

The spirit begins working on healing the blonde. Her glowing hands start with the more pressing injuries, his broken ribs that would inhibit his breathing. Without oxygen the body cannot properly use the fuel within itself.

Meiss lays quietly as Beatrice goes over each injured rib one-by-one, judging which one is most damaged. He has been on the receiving end of healing magic before but all of those wounds, except for the sliced vein after Ley, only affected his skin. The feeling of bone cementing back together is weird. He can feel his skeleton shifting and mass build up to repair what was broken.

"Hey Beatrice… how long could you use… teika if you drained my mana?"

"Hmph."

…

_Uh…_

…

"Honestly, you humans are all the same, showing up to Betty only when it conveniences you in fact. Betty's magic or her books, always one or the other I suppose."

The words are strong, but there is a certain hollowness to them. Akin to something memorized and regurgitated, or something not completely true or believed anymore. Meiss scrunches his face up. _What? Why is she acting so different all of the sudden?_ The blonde shifts away from Beatrice's hands, biting back his pain. She has only half-healed one rib. The spirit looks at him with an expression wavering on curiosity, anger, sadness, and a million other feelings unable to be described in words.

"Stop healing me."

"Wha…"

"If everyone you have ever met; if not a single person has cared about you for yourself then stop healing me."

What crosses her face is new.

Uncertainty.

Her eyes waver as the glow around her hands flickers off and on rapidly. She is uncertain, a mental battle being raged within her tiny body. The spirit doesn't even try to hide it; the pain on her round face is clear as she seriously considers every person she has met in her long life. The healing starts to flicker less, the glow staying on longer and longer. Suddenly, she scrunches her eyes closed, drawing back and making herself smaller as the healing flickers again before shutting off completely.

Meiss sucks in air through his teeth as he struggles onto his stomach, using his good arm to push himself up. The effort is excruciating, and sweat beads on his forehead. The adrenaline of battle is slowly waning, and with it the suppressed pain and fatigue.

"I couldn't give two _shits_ about these books or your magic; look upon thine field of fucks to give and witness it's _barrenness_! I can deal with this myself, I don't need to put others in danger. That's why Rem and Frederica had such safe roles in this, I _advocated_ for them! I can shoulder _every_ burden, _every_ hardship and _every_ responsibility… As long as there is strength to pull in air, I can raise my arm to shield!"

Beatrice watches this guy rise to his knees, determination making his icy eyes burn hotter than any fire. He's covered in cuts, covered in burns. His left arm is useless, his ribs are broken, he can barely keep his balance while kneeling. Yet he still rises despite the obvious pain he is in. The spirit can't understand.

"How… why… Betty doesn't understand why you never give up. Even while you're dying you idiotically think of others before you. You never cared for Betty's books or her strength, acting like we were old friends despite Betty being so cold to you… Betty wonders… Betty wonders what exactly the half-elf girl and the blue-haired girl see in you."

Meiss reaches out with his good arm and places it on Beatrice's shoulder. _She's thinking about Subaru._ The spirit flinches, before looking at Meiss with a perplexed and watery expression. Then he shoves her out of the way and Beatrice realises he was looking behind her. It feels slow, but she rather quickly turns her little head to see a white blur heading for where she was standing previously.

Meiss throws his broken arm out into the path of Elsa's white kukri using strength he doesn't have. His clavicle squeals in protest while grating against the inside of his skin, and his forearm refuses to twist or pull his hand onto a fist. The guthunter looks dead inside, as if all notions of personality have left her. The blonde is also acutely aware of a burning sensation overlapping everything and flowing throughout his body… into his right arm and hand… and into Beatrice.

He notices that the guthunter's weapon is hanging in the air…

**One.**

Then it hits Meiss like a ray of light piercing a cloudy sky.

The spirit, stumbling from his push, used teika.

**Two.**

Meiss is dimly aware of a chorus of damned souls wailing in his ears as dark mist starts to gather in the air. He probably would have taken a few seconds to realise what was happening if he didn't know it was possible.

Beatrice regains her footing.

**Three.**

Meiss moves his broken forearm down, surprised when it doesn't hurt.

The spirit to his side turns to face him and the guthunter.

**Four.**

The blonde raises to a standing position quite easily.

**Five.**

He moves his hand to his broken arm, feeling the tug of energy his overactive gate produces-

**Six.**

-and he pulls his last fire lagmite from his gate.

**Seven.**

Dolorem++ rapidly spreads down his intact arm, sparks of electricity popping into existence but freezing along with the world. The lagmite is clenched in his hand.

**Eight.**

Meiss takes a step back, winding up his battered body.

**Nine.**

Then he delivers the punch. He enters through her stomach and angles up and into her chest cavity, depositing the crystal inside and pulling his fist from her body.

"That's disgusting I suppose!"

**Ten.**

Meiss grabs Beatrice and scoops her into his working arm, jumping away from the guthunter.

**Eleven.**

The explosion rips through the air behind Meiss as his body careens into a bookcase. The furniture topples from the impact and Meiss and Beatrice land in a crumpled heap together on top of some books.

Meiss can hear fire and smoke behind him as he groans in pain. The books are ample fuel for such a thing. That explosion no doubt tore apart the front of the library, and Meiss wonders what surrounds the forbidden library and what would happen if the explosion ripped through the floor.

Beatrice struggles out of his grip and takes a look at the burning library. The ground where Elsa was previously is nothing but a scorch mark. The crystal must have blown any surviving parts of her deep into the library, if there were any surviving parts. The door was blown off it's hinges and now rests in the hall beyond the library next to a discarded kukri. The spirit wavers, despite not really liking this library she has been stuck in it for over four centuries, so she has a weird attachment to the place.

"I have enough time… time… I can get there in time… to Sanctuary. It's only eight hours and there's still two days before it comes…"

The spirit watches Meiss prop himself up with some hidden reserve of strength. Seriously, how is he still standing? Even if it is a powerful thing, sheer force of will has a limit. Seeing the depths of his determination, Beatrice tears up. Maybe she can begin to move again…

—

A giant leopard stands above a guiltylowe.

Frederica breathes in the scent of blood on her face. It's intoxicating. While in beast-mode, her urges are harder to control. Though unlike her brother, Frederica can see past the haze of instinct. She can even talk while in beast-mode. As for how she goes about doing that while leopards have no vocal cords… is something better discussed later.

The leopard turns to the wall of ice she erected. Her heart gives a little jump when she sees that Rem is no longer laying on the stairs. Frederica sprints over and jumps over the wall, noticing a faint trail of blood and the smell of Rem moving away from her. Not even looking down the hallway to check, Frederica sprints to the smell.

Her body, that of a beautiful leopard without spots, shrinks. The fur shortens until it disappears, and a mane flows from the back of her head. Her skeletal system morphs back into something humanoid as she reaches a little maid dragging a blue woman. Unfortunately, something her transformation does not preserve is clothing, so Frederica is completely naked as she stops next to Petra.

"What are you doing here? What if you had gotten hurt?"

"I'm sorry Frederica nee-sama, but I saw Rem get thrown into the mansion and-"

Frederica doesn't let Petra finish, pulling the small maid into a tight embrace. She holds the girl tightly for a few seconds, before squeezing her and pulling away immediately after. Petra makes a "gek" sound when Frederica squeezes her and holds her sides when she lets go.

"That hurt…"

"That's what you get."

The two turn to Rem as she makes a sound. The oni squirms for a second before her eyes open slowly. She tries to sit up, only to silently flinch in pain. Rem relaxes her body as she realizes she is no longer fighting the guiltylowe.

"Don't move Rem-sama."

"What… happened?"

Frederica kneels next to the oni and looks at her body closer. It's obvious some bones are broken, and her skin is swollen in some places. Some blood trickles down her forehead and a shoulder is dislocated. Frederica curses herself for not knowing healing magic despite having water as one of her affinities.

"We defeated the assaulting demonbeasts. Meiss-sama is fighting Elsa Granhiert, though I cannot hear anything currently."

Rem nods and tries to move her hand to her broken arm, letting loose a barely audible whimper when her dislocated shoulder grinds painfully. Frederica bites her lip before shifting to hold Rem's dislocated arm. Rem realizes what she is about to do and nods weakly. Frederica slowly extends the arm above Rem's head but parallel to the ground. After the agonizingly slow movement, Rem's shoulder pops back into place and most of her mobility returns.

"There was a girl… unconscious in the yard. Rem believes she is the one… commanding the demonbeasts."

Rem's shoulder is sore, but this will do for now. While it is nothing compared to the efficiency of Ferris or Beatrice, Rem understands how to heal bone. The work is slow, but the blue glow is consistent.

Petra and Frederica leave Rem to herself, both are useless in this situation. They found Elsa later in the day, around the time the maids would normally be finished with and serving dinner. Not thirty minutes had passed since Meiss opened the escape passage's door.

The sun is nearly touching the horizon.

Yet light still pours from somewhere like it is the middle of the day. Petra puzzles over the phenomenon while looking out the window. It's almost like the light is coming from the mansion itself. Frederica walks to her room to acquire new clothing. She leaves the oni and small maid in the hallway, the battle is over and nothing will happen to them.

After making it to her room and putting on a new maid outfit, Frederica calmly walks outside the mansion. Her nose morphs for a second, the heightened senses tell her that someone is crawling along the ground near the mansion's fence. Unlike her brother, Frederica can be much more precise with her ancestral return.

Glancing behind her, the maid can see a pillar of light bursting from the mansion. Pieces of wood and stone hover around the base, elucidating that it punched straight through the building. The light curves ever so slightly north-east. Frederica watches the mesmerizing and blinding light for a second before tearing her eyes away.

The leopard stalks over to the blue-haired little girl. The girl is so close to the fence, a minute more and she would be off the mansion's yard. Her leg is bent at an unnatural angle that looks painful and the large yard doesn't help with trying to crawl away either. Frederica steps right in front of the girl.

"Care to join me for some tea, Guest-sama?"

—

_…_

_…_

_…_

_They will all leave._

_Life may be finite, but that's no reason to spend it dreading the end._

_He will leave one day as well._

_I prefer to think of it like this: beyond the cascade there is a holiday some people celebrate. Instead of mourning the dead, they celebrate the dead. They are happy they lived rather than sad they died. It's a warming three-day celebration._

_…_

_…_

_…_ _…_

_…_ _…_

_…_ _…_ _…_

_…_ _…_ _…_

Color.

Swirling, rippling, purling.

Vibrant and oversaturated.

Color.

Every color imaginable. Spinning so fast around them that it blends together into white. A torrent of emotions held back for centuries. Blindingly beautiful. It hurts the eyes but it's impossible to look away. Naked and bare for the world to see. Wet eyes and shaky voices. Broken bones betraying cracked hearts.

Cracked hearts, not completely broken. Able to be mended.

Not seeing it with their eyes, instead feeling their destination. Secluded. A box of stone rising from the earth amid a scar in the forest. Their travels take up the better part of ten minutes. Ten minutes feels like ten seconds. One second feels like an hour.

_I'm relieved. Nothing's happened yet. Is that Japanese in the stonework on the roof of the tomb? If she hasn't cleared it I can force my way through._

_You don't need to force everyone's problems onto yourself I suppose._

_…_

_…_

_What was in that letter?_

_Betty will never tell you I suppose._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me about Meiss’ power on FF.net and I thought it relevant to post here as well:
> 
> Guest :: I don't really mind. Meiss' authority is a jumbled mess of his desire to protect and tendency to seek revenge. I have tried to find a single thing that would make sense for him to control that encompasses these all, but I can't think of anything.
> 
> Acedia (apathy) Lightsaber tentacles.
> 
> Stagno (Unchanging) Limited damage immunity in his skin, the thinner it's spread, the less effective it is; Turns off pain receptors in the skin.
> 
> Indifferntia (Indifference) Immunity to all reality-altering stimuli. Passive ability.
> 
> Dolorem (Resentment) "Hey, It would be fun if acedia was on his arms." -Me to myself one night. Like acedia in both limit and drawbacks; covers one limb.
> 
> Dolorem++ "Hey, it would be fun if dolorem made him buff." -Me to myself one night. Besides stronger, exactly like dolorem.
> 
> Quiescence (Inactivity) Bubble that holds the properties of stagno and indifference. Basically a shield that protects those inside from outside stimuli.


	23. What Happened in Sanctuary?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a very bad headache back when I wrote this, so it’s a bit lacking imo

Sunlight tousling their hair, Subaru and Emilia walk hand-in hand. Behind them are the carriages departing from Arlam village as well as Meiss and Rem. It was a fun note they departed on, but Subaru knows that a challenge awaits the two when they return to the mansion. The teen lightly squeezes Emilia's hand to take his mind off of that. Subaru turns to the beautiful half-elf and raises an eyebrow playfully.

"Soooo, what did Meiss talk to you about?"

Emilia swings their arms higher between them and tilts her head. Her pristine silver locks flow out behind her like waves on a beach.

"Why do you want to know? Jeeeaaalous?"

Subaru brings his unoccupied hand to his chest and closes his eyes. The gesture gives off a sense of truthfulness to the teen.

"While I try not to be _that_ jealous dude, I am indeed _that_ jealous dude. Hopefully that guy is smart enough to know that divine retribution would befall him if he makes any moves on the girl I love."

"Hk-"

Emilia looks away from Subaru with a red face. She mumbles something along the lines of "surprise attacks are off-limits," then pulls her hand away to cross her arms. The half-elf keeps her head turned away but Subaru can almost hear the pout in her voice when she speaks.

"Weeell, you seemed pretty buddy-buddy with Rem back there despite me being the girl you love."

"Who says buddy-buddy anymore? And are you jeeeaaalous?"

"Gah, you tease me too much!"

Subaru corrects his posture and strikes a righteous pose, befitting of his charisma(?). Emilia stops and watches him do a weird thing again.

"Ahh, but Emilia-tan… Your reactions to teasing are by far some of the cutest things I have ever see…n"

Subaru stops mid-word and turns his head slowly. Garfiel is walking past them. While that doesn't warrant such a reaction, the feeling around Garfiel does. He feels threatening somehow by just walking around. Ehh, nothing new.

The teen drops out of the pose and turns to watch Garfiel walk over to Meiss and Rem. Emilia leans over his shoulder and watches as well. The lion walks past the two who look deep in conversation. Meiss breaks away from talking for a second to give Garfiel a hard stare before looking away and attempting to resume talking with Rem. Garfiel seems to inflate, his anger making Subaru tingle a little as it's felt somewhere in his bones. Meiss notices Garfiel walking towards him and Rem and seems to inflate as well. Subaru feels a cold sweat on his back and moves to take a step towards the two bombs. Thankfully, Rem steps in and pushes the two apart with a hand to the chest.

"Please, Rem understands you two have formed a negative opinion of each other but refrain from quarreling in front of the villagers."

Subaru looks at the hand on Garfiel's chest and remembers the most recent loop. Everyone was eaten by the Ousagi, but before that… Subaru shakes his head. It would probably be a bad idea to interrogate Roswaal on his gospel without a strong ally present. Garfiel and Ram don't fit that description and Emilia is too preoccupied with the trial.

The pressure from Meiss deflates, and Garfiel starts walking away. A collective breath is released from those close enough to see the interaction. Not just from Subaru, but the villagers as well. They all shakily resume their finishing tasks and slowly climb into carriages.

_I'm pretty powerless when it comes to preventing what's going to happen. That letter to Beako is a huge gamble, I hope she doesn't just throw it away and sulk._

Subaru turns swiftly and starts to make his way into Sanctuary.

"Subaru? What's wrong?"

…

"Nothing, just a bad memory."

Subaru continues on towards Sanctuary, oblivious to Emilia's gaze lingering on him as she follows.

—

Later that day, with starlight dusting everyone in silver, a group assembles in front of the Witch of Greed's tomb.

"Tch, that blonde bastard, lazin' around while important things're goin' on."

"Well, I'm jerst hopin' nuthin' vital ter the tomb wers damaged."

Lewes crosses her arms as she examines the slash in the tomb from beyond the iron fence. Garfiel, along with Subaru and Emilia, is standing by the opening in the fence. The blonde brings his arms above his head and rests his palms on the back of it to show how relaxed he is. He then glances at the guy next to him, Subaru. The teen looks back with a raised eyebrow.

_Well, that was easier than expected. I thought that it would take more than just revealing my knowledge of the Lewes clones to get Garfiel to cooperate. Though to call it cooperation is a stretch… more like mutual non-interference._

Despite that conversation that happened earlier today, Garfiel's personal opinion of the mansion residents still remains low. Especially towards Meiss. It seems the two blondes are non-compatible personalities when meshed for extended periods. Subaru has some idea, since he can ｢Return by Death｣ and see their interactions… there aren't many positive ones. The two mostly didn't interact at all.

The only positive interaction between the two Subaru can think of is when they worked together against the Witch. _Are their battle instincts compatible but not their personalities? Or is it that they are both stubborn but when faced with a common enemy they work together?_

A tug at Subaru's hand brings him from the world of his thoughts. It's time.

Emilia takes a deep breath before letting go of Subaru's hand. The half-elf walks up to the fence and stops just outside the boundary. She steps over it, sending the purple flames alight with their recognition. The flames dance along the top of the fence and inside the tomb, beckoning the challenger. Emilia strides towards the tomb, a stiff breeze blowing her hair to the side for a second. Her form disappears after a few steps into the tomb despite it being well-lit.

Subaru finds himself worried. In the two loops he lasted long enough to encounter the Ousagi, Emilia's mental state was in disrepair. The fact that Subaru was there may have been the only thing keeping her from the absolute brink, the outside of madness. Subaru has been there before and he wouldn't wish it on anyone.

—

It's the same night, only it's now after Emilia has once more failed the trial. The half-elf painfully dragged herself out of the tomb and into Subaru's arms. Her expression instantly lost an amount of hurt after the teen's arms wrapped around her form, but it wasn't completely removed. Emilia fell asleep then and there, leaving Subaru to slowly and gently maneuver his arms in such a way that allowed him to pick up the girl.

Their commute back to Sanctuary proper is quiet and slow. Garfiel breaks away from the group and does whatever he does when he isn't grumbling or being an ass. Ram veers towards Roswaal's recuperation hut with an intense glint in her expressionless eyes. Only Lewes stays with Subaru on his way to Emilia's temporary lodging.

The loligranny somehow keeps stride with Subaru despite her short stature.

"Ya youngun's prob'ly don't have th' full layout er Sanctuary in yer minds yet. Though with th' way ya look't this one I'm guessin' ya know th' way."

"I do, and thank you Lewes."

They stop at the door of the house. Lewes opens it for Subaru. The teen turns his body sideways so that Emilia doesn't bump the doorframe. Lewes heads for what passes for a kitchen in the small space.

"Tea?"

"No thanks, after this there's a thing I need to do."

"Suit yerself; I'm thirsty."

Subaru nudges Emilia's door open with his foot and steps into the room. As it is temporary lodging, there aren't any items of personal importance to Emilia. Rather, this is Lewes' house. She had given it up to accommodate Emilia, Subaru is thankful to her for the privacy Emilia has because of it. After-trial Emilia is quite depressing.

Subaru slides his hands out from under Emilia, having set her on the bed. He is about to turn and leave when a tug on his arm pulls him back.

"Emilia-tan?"

Subaru turns back to see Emilia with her eyes open and hand holding his sleeve. Slowly, the half-elf rises to her feet. Subaru puts his hands out to help her and Emilia grasps both of them to pull herself up.

"Subaru."

Then Emilia melds into Subaru. Out of his scant number of hugs, this one is by far the hardest as Emilia squeezes him like her life depends on it. Yet the teen doesn't complain, he feels a light shake coming from her body. Slowly, Subaru breaks out of his stupor and wraps his arms around Emilia and onto her upper back. He doesn't hug as hard, but he hugs hard enough. The half-elf buries her head into Subaru's shoulder.

The feeling of each other is calming, despite the crushing grip of Emilia. The lingering scent of the tomb is offset by the lingering scent of the stars. Her trembling calms, and her grip slackens somewhat. Subaru adjusts his arms to fully wrap around Emilia's shoulders as her arms drop to hold his lower back.

Time passes. They don't mind. Time is irrelevant right now. This moment could last forev-

"Cough cough."

Subaru jumps and turns his head to the door. It's Ram. Prim and proper, the pink maid stands with her arms to the side as she coldly gazes at Subaru and Emilia.

"Perhaps this look upon Barusu's face was worth leaving Roswaal-sama's side for. Though I have to question your motives, Barusu."

"I have to question yours! Why is that the first thing you think of?!"

"I have to take into account your past actions, Barusu."

"Past actions… What past actions?!"

"Kings game."

"Oh. Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

Subaru turns back to Emilia, who still has her arms wrapped firmly, but not tightly, around him. She must feel Subaru move to face her again, yet she doesn't look up at him.

"Emilia-tan… It's getting late."

Subaru tries to disentangle himself from Emilia. No good, she tightens her grip around his back. Her hair parts as she looks up at Subaru's eyes. Those large amethysts look into his soul and study it, causing Subaru's breath to hitch and his face to grow hot. Emilia's gaze lowers from his eyes and lingers on his lower face for a second before she closes her eyes and mumbles "sleepy."

The half-elf finally breaks away from Subaru and spins to fall face-first onto the bed. Subaru smiles at the childish behavior before tapping her shoulder.

"You'll sleep better if your entire body is on the bed, Emilia-tan."

The half-elf mumbles something incoherent before shifting the rest of her body onto the bed. She flips over to face the ceiling and pulls a blanket up around her.

_Wow, I guess Emilia's mom power is rubbing off on me. Is that good?_

Subaru turns to the door and follows Ram through it. The teen looks behind himself as he starts to close the door. A huge smile morphs his face as he looks back at Emilia. Subaru brings his hand up to his face and plants a kiss into his palm before affectionately blowing it at the half-elf.

"Sweet dreams, Emilia-tan."

"Goodnight Subaru."

The teen closes the door behind him and stands with his back to it. He sees Ram standing over by what passes for a kitchen. The pink maid looks back at him with a smile. A smug smile. So smug a smile that it could destroy the confidence of any who see it. Familiar with this smile, Subaru isn't as affected. Though to say he wasn't unaffected would be to lie.

Face red, Subaru walks over next to Ram and vents by starting to make tea. Even though it is by no means perfect, Ram dutifully beat into the teen how not to poison someone with the drink. I, the author, have not drunk tea in any capacity in my short life and as such have no idea how long it takes to make, so however long it takes to make tea is what time passes.

Subaru holds one cup to his lips, sliding a second cup to Ram so she can judge. Deciding to drown his embarrassment, the teen down his cup in one gulp. He instantly regrets it as his hand shoots to his burning throat. Enduring the pain, Subaru gently places the cup he was using down before crying out in pain and curling into the fetal position.

"Reminds me of Garf, though at least Garf has less bad points. You should work harder Barusu, so that you can be worthy of chasing the perfect and cute Ram's back."

"Perfect?"

"What was that?"

"Um! I think divine would be a better word."

—

"Haa…"

Once more, starlight dusts Subaru as he waits outside the tomb. Another day has passed uneventfully. Subaru really is on the backburner this loop. He is being careful to not screw up anything, since there is a slight chance the fighting force at the mansion is able to repel Elsa. The teen doesn't really worry about the demonbeasts since they are a piece of cake compared to the guthunter.

Quite literally too. Subaru is confident it would take less time to kill, cook, and eat a demonbeast that it would be to eradicate the guthunter. That is if you want to chance eating demonbeast meat. Subaru isn't sure if it has any ill effects, but he wouldn't try it either way.

The alien looks to his side, eyeing the forms of Ram and Garfiel. Some memories from his latest ｢Return by Death｣ float up once more. The image of the two pinned together and gushing blood was an image that wasn't very nice on the eyes. Especially since Roswaal himself was the one who did the killing.

Subaru clicks his tongue as his gaze returns to the entrance of the tomb. Emilia's usual time to take the trial was anywhere between thirty and forty-five minutes. That time was approaching fast.

"Is sermthin' botherin' ya?"

"Yeah, nothing worth talking about though."

Lewes turns her head back to the tomb, gazing at it with an emotion Subaru can't quite identify.

"That youngin'll make it out, dun worry."

Subaru feels his lips disobey him and curl into a wry smile. The teen knows that Emilia will make it out, but she loses a little bit of herself each time she leaves the tomb. He has been spending time with her, making her as comfortable as he possibly could, but that doesn't seem to be having a positive effect on her trial. It doesn't seem to be having a negative effect either, so that's a plus.

 _What would happen if I wasn't here? How far gone would Emilia become?_ Such a dark path is something he doesn't dare think of. So Subaru banishes the thought from his mind.

…

…

Like so many times before, Emilia claws herself out of the tomb. No matter how many times he sees it, the pain it brings Subaru never lessens. And like so many times before, Subaru pulls her into a hug as soon as he can reach her. Emilia's foot remains over the threshold of the fence as she once more melds into Subaru, crying.

Subaru returns the hug and pulls her the rest of the way out of the tomb and it's small yard. He doesn't care that the dusty earth covers his pants as he does so. The teen looks up briefly, sighting the faces of Garfiel and Ram upon him and Emilia. The lion is watching them curiously. He then tilts his head to glance at Ram, only to look away and puff out his chest once she returns his gaze.

Subaru finds himself chuckling as he rises to his feet. Lewes looks at him funny for the small laugh, having not seen Garfiel and Ram. Emilia slowly disentangles from Subaru and steadies herself for the walk back to Sanctuary.

There is a small breeze tonight. It is felt by everybody as soon as they leave the scarred earth behind. Envy or not, witch miasma is a strong thing when exposed to it for a long time. Of course the more potent the stink, the faster it will harm. It's lucky for everyone that the tomb doesn't emit potent miasma, since going insane would be undesirable.

Subaru holds Emilia up and the two hobble towards Sanctuary. They are followed by only Ram this time, since Lewes walks off into the woods and Garfiel saunters off into Sanctuary's center.

They make it to Emilia's sleep-the-pain-away hut and enter. The simple layout doesn't provide any comfort as Emilia collapses into a small couch. Ram glances at her for a second before starting to prepare tea. Subaru gently sits down next to Emilia. _I wonder why she didn't choose to go to her room?_

The space is silent as Ram continues to make her tea. Within a few short minutes (is what I'm guessing how long it takes) the pink maid has completed her drink. She sets aside two more cups as she blows at hers to cool it. Deeming the liquid cool enough, Ram silently yet rapidly drinks the contents of her cup. She then leaves abruptly.

"Ram probably left to ogle Roz-chi."

"Ram wouldn't do something like that Subaru!"

Emilia looks at Subaru funny for suggesting something like that.

"Oi, it's true! I caught her ogling his body once while she was changing his bandages!"

Emilia draws back from Subaru in surprise, she creases her brows as well. The half elf brings a hand up to her chest and feels her heartbeat.

"…o…?"

Subaru leans in close, having not heard Emilia. He cups his ear and closes his eyes.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Ah, nothing."

"Really? I thought I heard you say something."

"I-I didn't say anything."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Super sure? You can ask me anything you know!"

Emilia starts to stutter, and Subaru feels satisfied with teasing. The teen pulls away from Emilia and corrects his posture. Emilia is still stuttering next to him. Then she finally comes up with a question for Subaru.

"How are babies made?!"

Subaru nods. He then stands up, retreats from the couch, and points a finger at Emilia.

"What the hell! Nobody told you?!"

"Nobody told me!"

Subaru spins around before plopping himself back down on the couch. He crosses his arms and closes his eyes.

"This guy is not comfortable with telling you such sensitive information."

Subaru opens one eye to sneak a peek at Emilia. He hopes to see an expression of understanding.

Emilia is pouting.

Subaru instantly turns to face her and waves his arms apologetically.

"Ok ok, I'll tell you a bit…"

Folding his hands on his lap, Subaru thinks of some way to phrase the explanation. Emilia tilts her head and looks at him expectantly.

Subaru sits silently.

Emilia looks at him expectantly.

Subaru can't do it.

"AHHH!"

"What's wrong Suabru?"

Emilia holds her hands out worriedly as Subaru suddenly stands up and scratches at his scalp in frustration. He turns to Emilia and clasps his hands together in apology.

"I'm sorry, I can't!"

"Why not?"

"I just can't! It's embarrassing!"

"Why?"

"I JUST CAN'T! … Besides, you should learn this from a girl…"

Emilia puts a finger to her lips in thought.

"Well, after I beat the trial I can just ask Ram. I could also ask Meiss since he was ok with telling me that one time. Hey… why did you stop him?"

"The actions of my past self were defined by elevated embarrassment and a desire to safeguard you from the grisly details of conceiving offspring. At the time I deemed that Meiss was unworthy of enlightening you."

"Your manner of speaking changed sooo much."

Emilia reclines into the small couch with a determined look on her face to find the truth. Subaru does the same, but without the determined expression. The two sit there silently as the minutes pass by. Emilia yawns into her hand and rubs her eyes.

"You should take a break from the trial tomorrow Emilia-tan."

Emilia snaps to alertness.

"Wha? What's this all of a sudden?

"I've… noticed that you aren't really in the best mind right now."

Subaru softens his expression as Emilia looks down. She begins to fiddle with her hair.

"Is it that easy to see?"

 _Yes_ "No, I only noticed because I'm watching you all the time."

"Heh, I feel like that is something suuuuper creepy."

_That is kinda creepy now that I've said it out loud._

Emilia reaches out and tugs at Subaru's sleeve. Her other hand rubs her eyes in a tired manner.

"I'm sleepy… You should get to bed too since it's so late."

"You're like my mom Emilia-tan."

"Mom… Subaru what is your family like?"

Subaru raises an eyebrow.

"I thought you said you were tired?"

"I'm willing to stay up a little longer…"

Subaru settles into a more comfortable position on the couch and advises Emilia to do the same. This will take a long time.

"Well, my dad is the most outgoing person you'll ever meet…"

—

Another day passes without fault.

The most eventful thing that occured was Ram finding Emilia and Subaru asleep on the couch and inflicting life-long torment upon them.

—

_It's serene from up here._

_You do realise we are moving so fast that the human body would splat if it hits the ground in fact?_

_Yeah, I know. I'll make sure to cushion your fall._

_…_

_Let us land here I suppose…_

_The tomb?_

…

A beam of light, wide enough for two people to be comfortable in, shoots across the sky. This spiraling beam of white aims for a remote village in the Mathers Domain. It touches down, boring a small crater into the earth next to the Witch of Greed's tomb. The light dissipates into a million dots of white like the stars behind it.

From the dissipating light emerges two people. One of small stature wearing burnt clothing and covered in blood and burns. The other of an even smaller stature wearing an extravagant red dress and hairstyle.

Upon standing again after the ten minutes of travelling, Meiss immediately collapses and groans in pain. He never actually got healed, so he is in the same condition as immediately after defeating Elsa. Feeling a churning in his stomach, the blonde activates his authority on his battered body so it doesn't hurt as much when he makes his way over to some bushes. Lining the edge of the scar in the forest, these bushes look nice. There is some sort of berry on them that would probably be poisonous if eaten.

Meiss covers them in his puke.

Beatrice looks at the boy heaving on a bush and rubs her eyes. _The cute Betty has been reduced to a sniffling mess! How embarrassing in fact… That ignorant brat will get an earful after Betty calms down._

Meiss shifts away from the bush and lays on his side.

"Th-that was cool and all, but I wish I could have delivered a cool line. My stomach doesn't seem to want that though."

"You are speaking right now in fact

"You know what I- hUrk!"

Meiss continues his assault on the bushes as Beatrice walks over to him. She averts her gaze until he finishes.

"Betty wonders when they will come running because of our entrance. It shouldn't be too long I suppose."

Meiss chuckles and maneuvers his good arm under him in an attempt to push himself up. With a thud and a wince, he fails. The blonde groans again and flips over with the small amount of strength he has left.

"Ooh… My adrenaline got left at the mansion. The _reserve_ mansion. That's still a shock."

Beatrice deems his continued talking as a sign he is done puking, and turns back to Meiss. She kneels down and reaches out to start healing him. The blonde reaches out and pushes her hands away.

"What? You've already refused Betty's services once, Betty will not let you do it again."

"Eh, this is more a question of 'are you able to heal me?' Your mana reserves must be pretty empty after using teika, even after draining my potent mana. It would hurt to see you disappear."

Beatrice pulls her hands back. Meiss smiles as she looks to the side. It must be frustrating not being able to do anything, but Meiss' concern was a real problem. Beatrice, being a spirit, would burst into mana if she ever ran out of juice.

The spirit crosses her arms and pouts.

"You are a bundle of wasted mage potential in fact. That gate of yours is over productive to the point of inducing mana poisoning after just one week, it also produces higher than average quality mana. Unfortunately, that crack in your gate that leaks mana is not going to save you from mana poisoning forever, it will only slow it I suppose."

"…Ok? Then I'm lucky you took my mana then. Thank you."

Beatrice pauses for a second before tsk-ing. The bushes on one edge of the dusty scar rustle, and out from the foliage emerges Garfiel and Ram. Following them are Subaru and Emilia. Any hostility present immediately calms once Garfiel and Ram realise who it is. Then the hostility rises somewhat when Garfiel realises who it is.

Ram raises an eye at Beatrice.

"Welcome to Sanctuary, Beatrice-sama."

Aggressively, Garfiel stomps over to Meiss. He looks down at the injured blonde for a second, looking over the state his body is in.

"Oi, th' hell happened?"

"Lots of things, anything in particular you want to know about? Keep it short, I feel like passing out."

Ram walks over to Beatrice. She is wondering what the little spirit is doing in this place. As far as the pink maid knows, Beatrice was contracted to stay in the mansion for an obscure reason.

"May I ask what you are doing here, Beatrice-sama?"

Beatrice folds her arms and curtly looks away.

"If you are wondering about the contract pink maid, then it is now null."

The spirit opens one eye to glance at Subaru, who is standing in awe at their quick travel speed. Emilia, being from this world and having a higher threshold for this kind of stuff, exclaims when she hears Beatrice say she broke her contract.

"You broke your contract?"

"Huff. It was beneficial I suppose."

"Hmm."

The half-elf desires more of an explanation, but decides to leave the conversation at that when she sees the state Meiss is in. She kneels over the boy and starts to heal him, only to glare at her hands when the healing doesn't start.

"You can't heal him here, the witch's miasma interferes too much with the mana in fact. Though if you were Betty or nii-chan, or maybe that cat-boy, you would be able to I suppose."

"Mhm… But then why aren't you healing him?"

"Uhm… What happened at the mansion was a handful, even for the likes of Betty. Her mana reserves are quite low now."

Subaru, having snapped out of his haze, now circles around Beatrice while laughing in a low tone. The spirit watches him circle her for a second before her irritation gets the better of her.

"You would be powerless to stop me if I pulled your drill-"

"BETTY CAN STILL CAST A SPELL OR TWO TO PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE, YOU IGNORANT BOY!"

Garfiel's opinion of Beatrice goes from -2/10 to -0.5/10.

We're making great strides here people.

Ram watches this display with her usual apathetic expression. While she would no doubt see the mansion again, Ram is curious to know what transpired at the mansion. Surely something must have happened for Guest and Beatrice-sama to come to Sanctuary like this. Rather… Why had they come to Sanctuary? If something occurred at the mansion, it would make sense to stay there after the events concluded.

"Guest-sama, may I have a detailed retelling of- Oh he's asleep."

Beatrice looks over, untangling her hand from Subaru's shirt and lowering her fist. The two walk over to the sleeping blonde and look down at him. Now a small circle of people standing over Meiss has formed.

"This boy really expended himself. You should let him rest in fact. Betty can tell you what happened I suppose."

The spirit then moves her hands under Meiss' shoulders and tries to lift.

…

"He's too heavy, can someone assist Betty please?"

Garfiel obliges, and motions to sling the boy over his shoulder.

"NO! His injuries are mostly internal! Being so careless with him will only make them worse in fact! Are you trying to kill him?!"

Eventually, Ram and Subaru carried him back to Sanctuary.


	24. Tribulation

One leaning over him, another standing with her arms crossed, a third standing with perfect posture, and a fourth leaning against the wall next to where he is sleeping. The bed that was chosen for him is the couch in the half-elf's hut. The one that Emilia and Subaru fell asleep on.

"So, Beatrice-sama, what occurred at the mansion?"

Beatrice tightens the arms crossed in front of her and looks up at the pink maid. She can feel the attention of everyone in the room on her, everyone that is awake at least. Despite the attention focused solely on her, Beatrice only addresses Ram when she speaks.

"Some woman with mental problems attacked the mansion in fact. She brought with her a little girl that can control demonbeasts. This passed-out guy did a good job not dying, and the great Betty helped significantly in disposing of the woman I suppose. That clown's mansion suffered damages, but Betty doesn't really care."

Subaru held a hand to his chin. _No doubt thinking something irrational I suppose. No matter, Betty is done speaking._

Subaru waits one moment more before a smile widens on his face. One hurdle cleared, though that sounds dismissive when put into words. Subaru would never have been able to defeat Elsa by himself, so the teen is glad that Meiss was able to fill in for his missing combat strength.

"Well, that means the guthunter is dead, that's a good thing to hear. What happened to that little girl then?"

"Betty and this guy left before Betty could find out I suppose."

Garfiel is silent throughout this entire exchange, the faint sound of his breathing the only indication he is there. His eyes are closed as well, and he could be mistaken for sleeping.

After a minute, Subaru stands up and looks at Ram. The two turn towards the door.

Just Garfiel and Beatrice remain with Meiss after Ram and Subaru leave to collect Emilia from the trial. Before Subaru closes the door...

"Hey Beako, mind letting me have some time alone with Meiss after I get back?"

"Do not call Betty by that name! And… I suppose."

The teen snickers as he closes the door behind him.

So now it's just the loli and the lion. I could try to make some reference to a show or perhaps a book about a wardrobe or something, but I'm terribly uncultured.

Beatrice uncrosses her arms and walks up to the couch in Emilia's hut, sitting in the remaining space that Meiss leaves. She snuggles her small body into the flat cushion, careful not to accidentally bump Meiss.

"So… Is there any business you need to attend to I suppose?"

"Ya gotta problem wi' me bein' 'ere?"

"Not at all. Betty merely caught a glimpse of this boy's memories when we were energy I suppose. Betty can gather from the brief snippits and emotions that you two have less-than friendly opinions of each other in fact."

Garfiel lets out a tch and opens one eye to peer at Beatrice and Meiss.

"He started it."

"How juvenile. Though Betty will be benevolent and let you in on a secret I suppose. This fool doesn't really think bad of you."

Garfiel snorts and rolls his eyes, swinging his head to gaze at the floor.

"He has a friend similar to you in fact. An awkward boy with dark brown hair. Annoying at times, insensitive, and unafraid to speak his mind even if it hurts others. Despite the glaring social ineptitude and lack of tact, this fool stubbornly remained friends with him I suppose."

A strange emotion falls across Garfiel's face. The lion wipes it from existence before looking up at Meiss and Beatrice. He uncrosses his arms and pushes off the wall.

Beatrice shrugs, moving around in the small space she occupies to find a softer spot.

"That is what Betty saw within his memories, do with it what you desire I suppose."

Garfiel hesitates for a second, no doubt asking himself if he should do what he's about to do. He clenches his hand and squats down near Meiss' chest.

"My amazin' self can heal cuts n' bone's n' stuff, but not th' more intricate things."

—

Door opening, starlight seeps into the hut as Subaru and Ram return with Emilia. Beatrice starts as the sound of the door jolts her from a state between wake and sleep. Next to her is the now-awake form of Meiss, having slept no more than thirty minutes. That he was so extremely still was because he thought Beatrice was asleep and didn't want to disturb her. Also because he can barely move.

"Meiss?"

The owner of this voice would be the disheveled Emilia, who was not informed of Meiss' stay in her hut. Even though Ram continues on and leads her to her room, Emilia's shaky gaze lingers on the intruding boy. What had happened to leave Meiss in such a state? Is the question she still has, and uses to distract herself. Holding Emilia's other hand is Subaru, who succinctly explains the situation.

"It's better for him here than in the cathedral or with Roz-chi."

Subaru continues with Emilia and Ram to Emilia's room, where Subaru leaves Ram to take care of the rest.

"Well, that letter must have worked…"

Subaru mumbles to himself as he walks over to Meiss and sits on the floor in front of the couch. Neither of the couch-surfers hear this hushed remark from Subaru.

Nobody speaks, since there is still an audience in the other room. A quiet awkwardness fills the air as Beatrice decidedly does not look at Subaru differently.

Eventually, Ram leaves, announcing that Emilia has fallen asleep. Two or so moments pass after the door clicks shut before Subaru breaks the ice.

"So Meiss, how are you doing?"

"Eh, so-so."

Subaru raises an eyebrow at the nonchalant response from the clearly battered boy. Seeing as more questions like that would probably result in similar responses from the stubborn blonde, Subaru instantly dives into the reason for this talk.

"Can you move?"

"Eh, so-so."

"Seriously."

"Uh… I could probably crawl around now, but the lingering stuff and remaining fractures really suck. On top of just being exhausted and sore to the point I can barely move, Beatrice told me that my broken bones dug into my muscles in some places, so that's nice. Oh! My joints feel kinda stiff…"

That last comment arose from Meiss trying to shift himself and wincing because of it. Though compared to immediately after the Elsa fight moving around is much more tolerable. Meiss could probably take a dozen or so steps easily before his strength starts to fail. His injuries are mostly in his upper half anyways, what affects his legs is just exhaustion and soreness. Fighting Elsa was the most exhausting and strenuous thing he has ever done, his muscles need to recover from the sudden use. It's something a good night's rest will fix. Err, maybe a week long slumber would be better.

Satisfied with this answer, Subaru puts a hand to his chin. It might be a bit risky to tell him now, but what other chance will he get? Meiss is mostly immobile and wounded, he wouldn't be able to move fast or far.

"Well, now's as good a time as any to tell you that Roswaal has a gospel."

"!?"

Meiss looks at Subaru. He stares. He stares hard.

"Excuse me Beatrice, I need to go do something."

Meiss attempts to swing his legs off the couch, achieving nothing more than a small relocation. Any further attempts at movement are hindered when Beatrice holds Meiss down and Subaru wraps a small blanket around him. The raw power of the tsundere and deredere working together is a sight to behold.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"Shhh."

"…are you kidding me?"

The scene is quite strange. Meiss, with his currently weak upper body, is unable to escape Subaru's supreme blanket-tucking abilities. So now Meiss is trapped. This really does a number on the blonde's pride. It's rather humiliating.

Beatrice turns to Subaru.

"How has such a mentally lacking person such as yourself learned of the clown's gospel in fact?"

"You know about Roz-chi's gospel, Beako?"

"Do not refer to Betty with that name I suppose."

Meiss huffs before tightening his lips.

"Careful Subaru, that's a touchy subject for her."

Beatrice turns to Meiss and slaps his legs for a few seconds.

"The powerful Betty does not require assistance!"

Meiss snorts and averts his eyes from the childish display. Beatrice hitting his legs like that kinda hurts, but he wasn't going to say that. Subaru adjusts himself on the floor before looking at Meiss again.

"I held off on telling you since I figured you would try to go beat the crap out of Roz-chi."

"Yeah. You got me at the perfect opportunity."

Beatrice's eye twitches as she crosses her arms. She has a few questions.

"Why was that information so important? Why was Betty even brought here in fact?"

"You brought yourself here Beatrice, I had no say in our destination."

"Er- you… mentioned…"

Subaru snaps his fingers. This catches Beatrice and Meiss' attention

"We're going to fight the Ousagi. It's coming the day after tomorrow."

Beatrice leans back into the couch, recoiling from Subaru's statement.

"What?! You utter fool I suppose! Imbecile! Are you insane in fact!?"

"Hai, ore wa Natsuki Subaru and I'm insane."

Meiss tilts his head at Subaru. The blonde knows a very limited amount of Japanese due to his tastes in media from beyond the cascade. Not enough to converse or understand talking, but enough to understand an isolated word or two. Like how he understands "Nani" is something like "What." Also does Meiss understand there are a few different pronouns used to refer to yourself, like "Watashi," and "Boku."

"Ore? Maybe I have a different meaning for it, but you seem like a 'boku' kinda guy."

"Hm? Ore is informal. I- I thought you were my friend…"

While Subaru wipes his eyes in mock sadness with a grin on his face, Beatrice makes no sounds. Eventually, this catches the two guy's attention and they look at her. The spirit is uncannily still, unmoving.

"Beako completely shutdown."

"Must be what you said. Most people wouldn't accept others calling them insane."

Meiss lets his head relax, and he enjoys the ability to breathe without pain. It's one of those bodily functions you always take for granted, like being able to hold in waste or being able to hear.

"You look like an 'Atai' kinda guy, Meiss."

"Is that another word to refer to oneself?"

"Yup." _Mwahaha..._

Meiss takes a deep breath before turning his head to look at Subaru again.

"Was Emilia able to beat the first trial?"

Subaru's eyes turn downcast. An expression heavily removed from his usual cheerfulness.

"No, she drags herself out of the tomb crying every night."

Meiss furrows his brows in worry.

"She hasn't taken any breaks? I told her to... Constantly challenging can't be good for her."

"She hasn't. Garfiel, with his tactless self, has finally noticed too. It's worrying, I can't find a way to help her."

Meiss is silent. Perhaps mulling over the information in his head. It seems like an eternity has passed before he speaks again.

"A half-hour power nap won't help me much. It's about time to get some real shut-eye."

Subaru wearily stands up, agreeing. The teen bids a final goodbye for the night and leaves, only after waving his hand in front of Beatrice a few times of course. She doesn't show any indication of noticing him.

…

…

…

"OK, wake up Beatrice."

Meiss prods the spirit with his foot.

It does nothing.

"Beatrice."

Another prod.

Nothing.

"Er… Beako?"

"Do not refer to Betty with that name in fact! And don't kick me!"

At the mention of Subaru's nickname, Beatrice springs from her trance and smacks Meiss' leg. Her ornate drill-like hairstyle swings around her face and she gets a mouthful of cream-colored hair.

"Bleh! Pleh!"

"Heh, I didn't want to leave you like that all night. Also, I don't know how much mana it takes to sustain your form, but I'm not going to complain if you siphon some while I'm sleeping."

In response, Beatrice zaps him by draining a little too much of his scant mana. She forces the mana from him even though their contract allows a passive transfer through touch.

"OW, OW, OW! Malpractice! Malpractice! WhY wOuLd YoU dO tHaT? I'm still recovering!"

Beatrice looks extremely pleased with herself in a way only a 400 year old loli could be.

—

**｢Behold the unpredictable present｣**

In the white northern lands, a village is like an orange scar in the land. It's on fire, the result of a conflict that spilled into the village from the surrounding woods. From those woods, a blonde walked in on something he shouldn't have.

Melancholy waited, his nape pricking with double intensity below his golden hair. Somewhere in between the flaming buildings was another Archbishop. The sneaky bastard had been attacking him from the shadows with a purple-black hand and a stinging whip studded with mana storage lagmite. The worst part was that whenever Melancholy caught sight of him, an intense elation overcame him. Melancholy was smart enough to know that the emotions weren't his own, but rather his attacker's. The guy felt elated to fight him, and _wanted_ something from him. It made Melancholy sick.

Fast as lightning, the whip snaked out of the shadows and wrapped itself around Melancholy's left arm. He tried to resist, but the slashed muscles made pulling his arm awkward. The blonde felt his mana get pulled from his body as the crystals tried to pierce his skin. Color rippled underneath the blonde's black shirt as he finally yanked the whip, pulling his attacker into the firelight. That strange elation and greed washed over him again as Melancholy registered the haggard appearance of the man before him. Messy black hair, sharp hazel-brown eyes, and a playful smile on his face. His orange and black cloak streamed out behind him as he skidded on his feet.

Melancholy pulled the whip even harder, making the attacker tumble forward into the air. Melancholy then spun around. The attacker moved in accordance, his hand not leaving the whip even as he scraped against the ground and into a burning building. Melancholy heard a hoarse scream of pain from the attacker as he was no doubt being burned alive. Finally taking a breath, Melancholy let go of the now-flaming whip. Regardless of his attacker's no doubt dying status, Melancholy was apprehensive.

_There!_

A black-purple hand shot from the flame of the building and aimed itself at Melancholy. The blonde raised an arm, cutting the hand with a short burst of colored light.

So he is alive. Melancholy tunnel-visioned on the house and the immediate area around it. Everyone in the village had either fled or died from whatever battle he had walked in on, so it was just Melancholy and the other guy here. The blonde retracted his tunnel-vision after a few seconds of silence, reasoning that the attacker must have slipped away. He was about to turn, but as soon as he made the slightest twitch, burning cold engulfed his lower back.

Melancholy didn't even cry out because the stimulus was so intense. In one fast motion, he lost feeling in both of his legs and his hips, leading him to flop onto the ground.

"Guh!"

Ironically enough, the impact from the ground was what elicited a sound. Melancholy tried to twist, but found his severed back muscles made it difficult. The most he could accomplish was holding his torso up with his arms and looking behind him. Melancholy's gaze traveled from the gash in his lower back, some pink stuff was poking through, as well as two tubes that spurted blood profusely. Past his immobile legs stood a pair of tights-covered woman's legs, trailing his gaze up revealed a well-endowed woman staring down at him. Her black clothing was snug against her body and looked reminiscent of a one-piece swimsuit with a large V missing from the front. A kukri stained with blood, _my blood_ , rested comfortably in her hand.

"Hk!"

Realizing the wound is fatal, the woman paid the blonde no heed as she looked past him to the hazel-eyed man. Or rather, he looked not that much older than Melancholy so maybe teen was the correct word? Melancholy turns his heavy head to look at the teen who is slowly approaching. Black burns mar his exposed skin, they slowly disappear because of his most recently acquired power.

The pricking on Melancholy's neck raises from two to three times the norm.

"Good job Elsa, this guy would have been a very time-consuming problem without you."

"My pleasure. Would you like me to withdraw Meili from her battle with Mama?"

"Yeah, that surprisingly one-sided battle has her authority integrating into me, so Capella is without doubt dead. Shikiyoku, huh, so healing is what I got… It's rather boring."

The teen bends down to look Melancholy in the eye, his smile wide. Despite not being the type of person to do something so crude, Melancholy has the urge to spit in his face. The blonde has an indescribable feeling of ire right now. The teen stares for a second too long, clapping happily as Melancholy's arms finally give out from blood-loss. The clapping dies out though, and a confused expression distorts the man's face.

"Huh, that's weird. I don't seem to be absorbing this kid's authority. Actually, what authority does this kid even have? My guess would be Wrath, with the way he fought, but that's not possible because I've got Wrath. Oi. Oi kid, what authority do you have?"

"Fuuuuuhk… yuuuuuu..."

—

The stroke of midnight passed a few hours ago. Almost everyone in Sanctuary is sound asleep at this hour, late enough that the night-owls are asleep, yet too early for most of the early-risers. Among those extremely early risers is a wittle girl.

Subaru is woken up by Beatrice, who is nearly snapping his neck with how hard she is shaking him awake.

"WAKE UP YOU IMBECILE, THAT HALF-DEAD BOY IS MISSING IN FACT!"

"GYAH!"

Subaru bolts up and almost clonks the spirit with his head. They are in the cathedral, Subaru not feeling comfortable lodging with either Roswaal or Garfiel. He would have slept with Meiss and Beako, but Ram gave him a soul-flaying look the instant he suggested staying in the same building as Emilia. So now Subaru has to sleep alone in the empty cathedral.

Poor Subaru.

"STOP SHAKING ME!"

Subaru is able to push the loli away using her forehead as leverage. The spirit's twintails bounce wildly as she flaps around for a second before becoming still. Her blue eyes open to look at Subaru, the X shaped pupils expanding to get a clearer picture of the teen in the dark area.

"Betty doesn't know where that arrogant child sleeps, you were merely a footstone to the useful person I suppose."

Subaru rubs his eyes awake with one hand and waves a 'shoo' gesture at Beatrice.

"Yeah yeah, you mean a lot to me too, Beako."

—

**｢Behold the unpredictable present｣**

_What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck._

The boy feels his breath dry on his tongue, his lungs burn as he sprints through the woods. Most of his concentration is on avoiding any low-hanging branches and exposed roots that would trip him. He didn't even dare to look back in the direction of the destroyed house and mangled ginger body. Not like they could be seen anymore, he had been running for the better part of a half-hour, almost forty-five minutes.

The only thing in front of him is dense foliage that hinders his speed. The only thing behind him...

_Death._

A feeling so powerful, so resolute, that it nearly trips him with the shock. Death, behind him is death and nothing else. He can't run forever, his adrenaline is finite. How long can he keep up this exhausting pace?

Feeling a sudden pain in the side of his abdomen, a result of overexertion, he knows the answer.

_I can run, I can run far, I can run fast, but full speed for so long isn't doable. This is it. I'm going to die. Why? Everything was so nice. Why now? Why here? She was going to introduce me to her cousin. She said he is the strongest ever. Why am I thinking of that? I was happy, different from most of my time beyond the cascade. Am I not allowed to be happy? Why? WHY?_

The boy feels his hot cheeks cool due to moisture. Tears drip down the skin, wasting much-needed hydration. The blonde blinks the salty liquid away, he needs clear eyesight to run through this forest. He plants a foot into the ground, using the appendage to jump over a small creek. He lands softly and maintains his momentum.

**_You had one job. ONE JOB!_ **

The blonde flinches as the voice invades his mind. The lapse causes him to slip on some loose leaves, sending him skidding over the earth. He tries to steady himself by placing another foot out, but this one slips on a round rock.

"GAH!"

The boy's ankle rolls painfully to the side and he falls. A sharp root pokes his side as he lands, causing him to roll away from it. He brings his leg up to his chest, holding the area just above his injured ankle.

**_I don't like it when people disobey me~._ **

_**Now,** **｢come here.｣** _

The blonde's back tenses as a shockwave of fear thunders down his spine. He shuts his eyes tight, refusing to see what's happening to him. He can feel leaves scraping by him, branches cutting his face. The ground seems to slant, sliding him to the speaker. His body splashes in the creek he jumped over seconds earlier. The ice-cold water not nearly as chilling as the voice intruding into his head.

The last thing he witnesses is the darkness of his closed eyelids.

—

It's been half an hour since Beatrice woke Subaru. They then went to Garfiel in the hopes that his nose would be able to find Meiss.

Well, he found Meiss quite easily.

The lion sprints through the woods. He knows this place like the back of his hand, having lived here since he was a baby. He palms a low-hanging branch out of his way and bursts into a star-lit clearing. Losing no speed, he sprints into the center of Sanctuary.

"OI BASTARDS, WHERE TH' FUCK ARE YA!"

Down the path jogging into view is the bastard. Well, his name is Subaru but that's irrelevent. Anyways, he runs over to Garfiel and catches his breath for a second before asking the question on his mind.

"Did you _gasp_ Didjya find him _wheeze_?"

"My amazin' self's nose's impeccable. Of course I found 'em. Hard ta miss th' lights anyways..."

"What do you mean?"

Garfiel clicks his tongue as he grinds his heel into the earth. _Jus' how fuckn, aggravatin' can people get? That blondie goes 'n raises my opinion'v him then pulls somethin' like this! Bullshit's what it is._

The lion grimaces as he answers Subaru's question.

"Fucker's at th' tomb. He's takin' th' trial again."

"What?"

Garfiel turns his gaze to the direction of the tomb, the thinning of trees around it barely visible from here. Like a one-way mirror. From the tomb Sanctuary is a lot clearer and easier to see, but from Sanctuary it's hard to see much beyond the trees.

Subaru begins to walk in the direction of the tomb. Garfiel holds a hand out to stop him.

"Oi, an' where th' fuck're you goin?"

"To get Meiss out of there. That thing judges how much to hurt you based on mage potential, right? So I'll be fine."

Subaru tries to move again, but Garfiel holds him in place stubbornly.

"Hey, he could barely move today! You saw what the trial does to Emilia and she's perfectly healthy! What makes you think he'll have the strength to crawl out!"

Garfiel closes his eyes. On the one hand, he doesn't like anyone messing with the tomb. On the other hand, he had agreed to not get in Subaru's way. Why are things so difficult?

"Grrrrrrrrrr FINE!"

Garfiel raises the hand holding Subaru back up over his head and scratches his back. He kicks the earth and watches Subaru run towards the tomb. The lion grumbles something before ruffling his hair and stomping further into Sanctuary.

_Damn, I need ta find that lil' girl 'n tell her to stop lookin'._

—

"Hrk-!"

Feeling a pressure in his throat, he curls into the fetal position until it subsides.

" _Hah... hah..."_

Meiss takes a deep breath and releases it. He continues this process for a minute or two, calming his nerves. Once he gets his pulse under control and stops sweating he tries to organize the new experiences. His head hurts, it throbs from the information.

He can organize later.

_Ok, so what was that? Five alternate versions of now? I thought this world couldn't get any shittier._

_**...** _

_Ok then, doesn't make it any less hard to understand. Though there are a few enjoyable things in this world, so I'm thankful this is reality._

The blonde rubs his temples as he lays on his back. It still sucks to move, but screw pain. Sheer force of will has no limits.

Stumbling, Meiss crawls over to the tomb's wall and pushes himself onto his feet. It was already bad enough getting here after waiting for Beatrice to fall asleep, getting back would be even worse. The trial seems to have stolen all of his puny strength despite him not moving an inch.

_Maybe I should rest, I've scarcely rested in probably twenty hours._

_No, you can still move. One foot in front of the other even if it hurts. Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, ri-_

"Gyah!"

Meiss splays his arms out as his foot trips. He falls to the dusty floor, sending up a grey cloud with his impact. He yelps and clutches his left forearm as he lays there. Breathing heavy, he rolls over. Meiss raises his head, seeing the slash in the tomb he created days ago being the reason he fell.

The blonde can see a sliver of the night sky through the slash in the stone.

_I can still take the trial tonight. It's still dark out._

Meiss rolls back onto his stomach and braces himself against the wall of the tomb. He tries to rise, but all he can achieve is one leg underneath him. It's like he can feel each individual muscle fiber screaming at him, hot and cold and hurting all at the same time. Also the throbbing, by god the _throbbing_. His whole muscular system throbs every time he moves. Rythmic, like a dull heart beat he can feel through his whole body.

Resigning to the inevitable, Meiss relaxes himself and leans against the wall.

He covers his eyes with the inside of his elbow.

"Dammit you're pathetic Meiss."

"Yup, hammer on the nail. Or was it nail on the head?"

"Whuzzit!?"

Meiss jumps and scoots away, a sudden rush giving him power to do so. He raises his arms, only to lower them a second later.

"Really, Subaru?"

Subaru looks down at the form of Meiss, mostly feeling pity for the boy. The teen places a hand on his hip and shifts his center of mass onto one foot.

"Yes, really. What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you almost die? And don't use the excuse of Shi ni Modori, er, Return upon Death. Value yourself more."

Meiss looks at Subaru for a second before he smiles and chuckles at the wall.

"You gonna pull a Rem on me? Slap emotions at me with such force that I improve as a person?"

Subaru furrows his brows.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh that's rich Subaru, maybe it's the three times you're responsible for my death!?"

Subaru steps back in surprise as Meiss buries his hands into his face.

"I-I know that wasn't really you, you would never side with Elsa and I mean how the hell do you even become a crime lord? Also you were going to run away? What the hell! That's on top of the other things I saw..."

Subaru looks at Meiss, and for the first time he looks beyond the overwhelming strength and drive, the teen finally realises how _small_ the blonde looks. He's a teen at the height of emotion, stuck between child and man. He has no idea what he's doing, what he needs to do, what he _wants_ to do.

Meiss lets his hands trail to his neck and then his collarbones. He digs his fingers into the skin around the ridges.

"Do you ever find it hard to breath? To feel so helpless towards yourself and the fact that you can't do _anything right_?"

"I do know."

Meiss hangs his head a little lower.

"You do know... I know that you know how much it hurts to feel so useless, to have to put up a front to make people not worry about you... and I'm not even good at that... I told myself I wanted to be a sanctuary, a... a light in the darkness or something that makes people feel safe and calm and grounded. How can I do that when everyone I've ever tried to protect has died or gotten hurt? I'm _incompetent_ , unable to do something so _simple_. I'm-"

Meiss doesn't finish the sentence. He feels no need to, it's achingly clear what would have been said next.

"Here I am spouting this crap about wanting to be a sanctuary to occupy myself, to distract myself..."

Meiss lets go of his collarbones, his hands flop into his lap as he stares at the ground. His energy is gone, he can't move. Won't move. He isn't thinking of anything, his mind is completely blank. He retreats within himself, feeling ashamed at how he let that outburst spill out of his emotion bottle. He can't even keep that closed properly, how can he ever hope to keep anyone safe? How can he ever hope to-

"Meiss."

The blonde slowly closes his eyes.

"Go away, you're smarter than me, you can do this easier without me."

"Meiss."

"I'm so strong but so weak, I'd just be a hidrance. I don't want to be a reason..."

_"Meiss."_

The blonde snaps his eyes open and lifts his head to glare cold ice at Subaru.

"I said GO AWA-"

The whipping peal of flesh on flesh echoes through the tomb. Meiss' head snaps to the side, he lets out a surprised breath. Subaru waves his hand in the air, trying to cool his palm down.

"Itata."

Meiss slumps to his side, his cheek burning. His eyes are wide open and shocked. Slowly, trembling, his hand travels up to feel his stinging cheek. His fingers are cold, smooth. The feeling of temperature subsides as his cheek goes numb.

Subaru looks down at Meiss again, at how he doesn't even try to right himself. He just lays there pathetically. Subaru crouches down, hands on his knees as he examines the visible parts of Meiss' face. His blonde hair covers most of it, but where his hand slowly explores his reddening cheek some skin pokes through. His nose also is showing, creating a little opening where Subaru can see the top of Meiss' lips.

"I know how it feels to feel useless and to put on a mask. That's no way to go about things though. Someone told me that I should think of myself first before others once in a while. To love myself. I think you should do that too. Feeling useless won't get you anywhere, take it from me and my experience. I died three times before I was able to put together the forces to kill the Hakugei. Do you know why I was able to do that?"

...

"..."

...

"I started thinking of myself a little. Rem helped me realize that I wasn't useless. That people would care if I left. People will care if you leave; if you shut down. You aren't useless. You're one of the smartest and strongest people I know. It hurts to see you like this and it'll hurt other people to see you like this."

Meiss draws his legs to his chest, curling into the fetal position. He continues to lay on his side, his burnt clothing sliding across the brick under him. Meiss wraps his arms around his legs, bringing them closer to him as he buries his face into his knees.

If he didn't look small before, he definitely does now.

"I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't Ican'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan't..."

Subaru furrows his brows in worry at Meiss, laying on the floor and whispering to himself. Eventually, he stops and says nothing more. Completely silent. Subaru falls into a sitting position as crouching becomes too taxing.

Subaru closes his eyes, breathing in the dusty air for a moment before looking out of the slash in the tomb at the purpling sky. The teen's gaze travels back to Meiss, and he gives a start as he realises Meiss is staring at him from under his bangs. The blonde hasn't moved an inch, still laying there.

"Why won't you leave me? I can't do anything, so why keep me around?"

Subaru looks worriedly at Meiss.

"You're not useless, Meiss. How many times will I have to say that for you to understand? Goddamn it you're my _friend_ , Meiss. You're Rem's friend. You're Emilia's friend. You're worth keeping around. I don't even know what you said to Beako to make her worry about you. You made _Beatrice_ worry. _Beatrice_. You planned out the mansion's defense and protected everyone there from Elsa."

Subaru leans forward, hoping to see more of Meiss' expression.

"Take a look at who you've met and what you've accomplished, seriously take a look, and tell me that nobody would miss you or that you're useless. You're not useless."

"I am."

"You're not."

"I am."

"You're not."

_"I am."_

_"You're not."_

_"I AM."_

_"You're not."_

_"I AM!"_

_"You're no-"_

_"GO FUCK YOURSELF, SUBARUU!!"_

Subaru leans back, startled at the outburst even if he saw it coming.

Meiss is sitting up now, heaving angrily. He glares at Subaru for a second before his expression changes to regret, then he scrunches his eyes closed and shouts at himself. He thrusts his hands into his scalp, pressing down as his hoarse cry slowly fades. The blonde sits for a second, his breathing labored, stifling a sob every now and then.

"I'm useless. I can't do anything right. I couldn't protect Eura. I couldn't protect Rem. I couldn't protect Crusch. I couldn't protect Frederica. I couldn't protect Petra. I'm sure I couldn't protect you a few times that I can't remember. I'm sure I couldn't protect other people that I can't remember. Why even try? If everything I cherish and hold dear gets hurt, then why even try? Why let myself get close to people if all it does is hurt? I'm hopeless... There's nothing I can do."

This sounds awfully familiar to Subaru, yet so different. Meiss and Subaru are similar in many ways, excluding the obvious alien status...

If Rem was able to help Subaru, then maybe Meiss needs a character to fit into the 'Rem' slot. If only briefly.

But Subaru isn't Rem. He had feelings of friendship towards Meiss, but nothing close to the unyeilding intensity of Rem's love. Really though, Rem's feelings are so potent that to compare anything to them would be futile.

Regardless, Subaru isn't Rem. He doesn't know what to say besides what has been told to him. Regurgitating information meant for one person's problems wouldn't help another with his own different problems, no matter how similar they may appear on the surface.

That's just it. Surface. On a superficial level minute differences between Subaru and Meiss' respective outbursts are the only contrasts. The words spoken may not convey the truest burden of the heart though, for words can never truly give the heart proper voice. Meiss 

Voice... Why did it have to be voice?

Meiss backs away, not knowing why he feels the need to as Subaru draws in closer. The teen reaches out to Meiss' shoulders and clamps down, holding him in place. Meiss can't escape as Subaru closes in. The blonde cringes away, trying to make himself smaller.

Meiss' breathing hitches, then comes in shallow, shaky breaths as Subaru's arms wrap around his body.

_What is this? ... What is this? What is this? What is this? Is this what it's like to be hugged? It's so warm and calming and inviting and I feel so safe. Please don't ever go I don't want to lose anyone again please. How have I gone without this for so long it's maddening I don't want to let go. Please don't go please stay. Stay stay stay._

"We need you, Meiss."

_Please please please please stay please stay please stay please stay stay stay I can't I can't lose anyone please stay I'm so safe here._

Subaru feels his shoulder wetten as Meiss buries his head into it. The teen ignores the dampness and tickling of the blonde hair on his neck. Just like during the week of turbulation and the return to the capital. The warm twin pillows of Emilia's thighs shattering Subaru's composure, as well as the hug and forehead kiss from Rem that swept away the gushing stream of self-loathing.

Yeah... Voice could never compare to something like this.

Nobody knows how valuable a shoulder to cry on is until it's needed.

—

Subaru drapes his arm around Meiss and pulls him to his feet. With Subaru supporting most of his weight, the two make their way out of the trial room. Subaru abruptly stops after moving a few steps into the tomb's hall.

"Yeah, this isn't going to work."

Subaru gently places Meiss on the ground and grabs him by the legs, dragging him. The tomb's floor is smooth brick, so nothing snags or hinders Meiss' body being dragged.

The blonde looks up through the tomb's hall to the outside. He can see the light slowly gaining a purplish-red tint.

_I guess I wouldn't have had enough time to take the third trial._

"You worried everyone, Meiss. Beako's gonna skin you alive."

_I'm not going to complain about getting dragged around. I deserve this for making anyone waste time looking for me._

Plus, the pulling feels kinda nice on his legs.

After a moment or two of slowly dragging Meiss, Subaru drops his legs. They've finally exited the tomb and now stand inside the tomb's small fenced-off yard.

Subaru brings his arms to his hips and puffs air for a second. The boy wasn't heavy, but he wasn't light like Rem either. It was tiring dragging him, not something the teen would enjoy doing again. Mostly because that would mean Meiss would be injured, but also secretly because it's tiring.

"Barusu, I commend you for dragging this insolent Guest-sama from the tomb in such a fashion. You have repented for waking the beautiful Ram from her sleep."

"But jus' how th' fuck're you completely fine after strollin' into tha tomb? I expected at least a lil' blood..."

Subaru turns to see Ram and Garfiel welcoming him from the tomb. Faced with the dynamic duo of whatchamacallit-unreciprocated-feelings though, Subaru can't really call it warm.

Though being praised by Ram is something Subaru could get used to. Shame it doesn't happen often.

The teen smiles and clicks his heel against the ground. He points to his temple.

"My mage potential is so low I only get a headache. Lucky me eh?"

Garfiel seems satisfied with this, if you can call muttering obscenities under his breath and glaring as satisfied. Rather, it's Ram that seems suspicious. She narrows her eyes at the blonde, who is slowly trying to roll over onto his stomach.

"I informed Roswaal-sama about Guest-sama's return after Emilia-sama's trial last night. He requested an audience once the pitiful boy was able to move. Seeing as Guest-sama was able to make it to the tomb, it seems that requirement has long since been fulfilled."

Subaru arches his brow at Ram, he heard nothing about Roswaal requesting an audience. Then again, it's not too much of a stretch to consider more secrets being kept. At this point Subaru would like to ask how many there are as well as what they are. With a sigh, the teen turns back to Meiss.

"Wait wait, I got this."

Meiss tries to stand from a crouching position.

...

"I don't got this. Some help please, Subaru?"

—

Breathing at a moderate pace, Subaru adjusts Meiss at his side. Instead of trying to carry him this time, the teen is allowing the blonde to walk with support. It makes Subaru kinda scrunch down though, so it's not very pleasant. The teen whispers to Meiss.

"Now _please_ don't throw a fit about his gospel. We haven't compared notes yet, so let me do the talking, K?"

The blonde leans in a bit closer to Subaru.

"Might be a little trouble there, I tend to just 'do' sometimes if you haven't realized."

"I've realised, which is why I'm asking you in advance. Plus, when you plan you're damn good at it. I woulda ran around like a headless chicken on fire with the Elsa situation..."

The blonde lets his head loll, a soft chuckle escapes his lips at the mental picture.

Ahead of them, Ram comes to a stop before the door to Roswaal's hut. She waits for Subaru and Meiss to catch up before opening the door and walking inside. The maid holds the door open until the slow duo make it inside. She lets it close on Garfiel, the wood smacking into his hand as he catches it.

Surprisingly, he doesn't complain.

Instead the lion crosses his arms and steps to the side, not wishing to be a major part of what's happening. Subaru deposits his Meiss against a wall, which the blonde slides down unceremoniously until he is sitting. Subaru stands a few feet away from him, facing the bed.

A small sigh escapes Subaru's lips. The teen can remember a similar situation to this one. This time though, Meiss is here. Even in his current state, Meiss could still provide an edge of some kind. What edge that may be is unknown.

On the bed is Roswaal. He glances quickly from Meiss to Subaru and back again. He then closes his eyes for the amount of time it takes to count to ten in a calming exercise kinda way before reopening his eyes. The clown smiles a not happy smile at Meiss.

"Myyy myyyyy! What oh whaaat could have occuuuuurred to put Meiss-san in such a state of disrepaaaaaiiiiiiir?"

Meiss raises his head. His hair covers his face, obscuring his also not-so-nice expression.

"I tripped on the stairs; it hurt."

Roswaal's blue eye twitches. Meiss' icy eyes shine from under his bangs.

Roswaal raises his chin and rubs it with delicate fingers. His hand twitches, slightly smearing a small portion of some purple lipstick across the top of chin.

"Hmmmm, I dooooo wonder why you look at me with such distaaaaaaste, Meiss-san?"

"Well maybe-"

Clamping his mouth shut, Meiss grimaces. Curse his mouth for moving without permission!

The blonde glances at Ram, she looks kinda pissed at Him. Scratch that, she's openly mad. Has she always been this devoted to Roswaal, to the point of some sick infatuation? What was she like before Rem's name was eaten? Probably not much different.

"Oi, th' hell were you 'bouta say, blondie!"

Garfiel pipes up from the side of the room. He slightly tilts his body, pressuring Meiss for an answer.

"Garfiel, I don't really want to get into a fight with _you_."

The emphasis on 'you' was not wasted on Garfiel.

Garfiel looks at Subaru.

" _Tch._ You prob'ly know what th' blondie's talkin' bout, right? You two were whisperin' 'fore we got 'ere."

Subaru looks at Garfiel and decides to follow the example of Meiss' aloofness. The teen casually puts his hands into his tracksuit pockets and looks meaningfully at Roswaal.

"Yup, I do know what he's talking about."

Roswaal studies Subaru's hazel eyes for a second, looking at him with the yellow eye. Slowly, the clown chuckles as he reaches under his pillow.

"I seeeeeeee, then."

Ram steps forward.

"Roswaal-sama...?"

"It is thiiiiis, right?"

From under his pillow Roswaal produces a small black book, it's unimportant-looking. Slowly, the clown flips the pages with his thumb, breathing in the scent of paper. Ram widens her pink eyes.

"Revealed so casually..."

With an angry grunt, Garfiel uncrosses his arms and positions them at his hips. He takes a step forward towards Roswaal.

"Th' hell's that?"

Subaru glances to his side at Meiss, whose eyes no longer shine from under his bangs. Truthfully, nothing shines from them since anger is a dark emotion. Roswaal smirks as he holds a hand out to stop Ram's worrying. Focusing on Subaru, Roswaal adresses the boy.

"This book is the truuuuuuth, I have taken painstaking measures to make sure the writ becomes reality, even at the cost of a retry."

"Cost of a retry...?"

Meiss whispers to himself as it dawns on him.

_This bitchclown knows about the memories! ... What did Subaru call it... Shini Mohdoli?_

'How though,' is Meiss' question. The blonde knows that a penalty is forced upon Subaru whenever he speaks about the memories to anyone besides himself and Meiss. So how did Roswaal learn about them? The blonde can barely contain his shock, though his hair obscures his expression from the others in the room.

_Must be that damn gospel._

Meiss glances at Subaru and notices that the teen doesn't look very surprised at the reveal of Roswaal's knowledge. Like he knew beforehand thet Roswaal knew...

"Roswaal-sama, what is this 'retry' you speak of?"

"Yeah! Th' fuck is goin' on? Somebody better start talkin'!"

"Roswaal you motherfucker..."

Roswaal merely closes his eyes after Subaru says nothing.

"It seems that we have alreeeeaaaady had this conversation, Subaru-kun."

Meiss grunts as he uses the wall to support himself. He slowly rises to his feet, stretching out his legs as he does. The appendages scream at him as he pulls on their tightness. Besides the blonde, Subaru opens his mouth to speak. He is cut off by a bubbling sound, courtesy of Meiss burning into the stone of Roswaals hut with acedia to better brace himself as he rises fully.

Acedia retracts into Meiss as dolorem spreads over his mostly uninjured right arm.

"..."

Ram harshly steps in front of Meiss, glaring her pink eyes into Meiss' blue eyes. The maid is the same height as him, so her eyes have a perfect window to stare into his soul. Meiss shifts his gaze between her two eyes, looking for any signs of hesitation or uncertainty or something else besides hostility.

None.

Nothing besides unwavering devotion to Roswaal. Meiss narrows his gaze, he's seen this look before. Rem's eyes often have that same look of love and devotion when she is with Subaru. Rem, whose love for Subaru borders on obsessiveness, is surely Ram's twin. There is no argument.

"I suggest you back down, Guest-sama. Even if you are injured I will not hold back. It is obvious who would be left standing."

Meiss, well practiced in stare-offs, returns the gaze of hostility.

"Yeah, it's glaringly obvious who would be walking away."

The blonde is too busy having a staring contest with Ram to notice the distance between the pink maid and Roswaal become no distance. Somehow, with his injuries, Roswaal was able to close the distance between him and Ram in the blink of an eye. The clown pulls back his arm...

"Ram, you truely are a good foll-"

"KISAMA!"

Meiss starts, his eyes widening as he sees Subaru throw himself at Roswaal. The clown reacts as well, changing the trajectory of his arm on instinct and scoring a shallow cut on Ram's back. With a bubbling cry, Subaru steps back while holding his throat, bleeding profusely. Meiss watches, stunned like the frozen Ram, as Subaru falls to the ground, a gash in his neck.

Nothing happens for a horrifying moment as everyone stares in shock at Subaru. Meiss tears his gaze away as nothing happens. _Nothing happens._ Shi Ni Modori doesn't activate.

Meiss spots his quarry and pushes himself off the wall at the same time Garfiel dives for Subaru. Ram is slow to react as she is pushed out of the way, watching as Meiss' hands close around Roswaal's dropped gospel. Garfiel mutters to himself as blue light weaves around Subaru's neck.

Ram looks from the bloody Subaru to Roswaal's red hand. The cut on her back stings. She was a good follower, she was praised by Roswaal-sama! So why was he going to kill her? It didn't make sense. Why did this have to be so complicated?

Meiss thumps painully to the ground, his fingers bumping the cold, hard floor. He makes a pained sound as he rolls onto his side, clutching the black book against his body despite the screams in his head telling him to _burn it burn it burn it they're all bastards that take people forever kill it burn it leave no trace. They take them away._

**...**

"No dammit, I'm fine!"

The blonde whispers to no one.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIIIIT!"

Roswaal's childish scream of rage tears through Meiss' eardrums as fire spurts from the clown's hands. He raises the appendage over his head, preparing to strike down with all his force, all his devotion, all his drive to meet his teacher again.

"AAAAL GO-"

Meiss raises the gospel in front of him like a shield, using his elbow to prop himself up shakily.

Just as quickly as it started, the commotion ended. The tension remains though, in the twitching of Roswaal, the glare of Garfiel, and the startlingly level face of Meiss. The moments tick by like hours as the tension mounts. It's like a bomb, ready to blow at the slightest disturbance, the slightest puff of oxygen adding fuel to the fuze.

"You should do something, Roswaal. I doubt Garfiel's gonna be as patient as me once he's done with Subaru."

Roswaal shakes with rage, his arm still raised and sputtering flame. He glares deep into Meiss' eyes, which shine from under the blonde's bangs. This bastard child recieved the authority of Melancholy? Before, it wasn't personal. Roswaal just happened to meet his match against someone he had no ties to, a force that meant nothing to him.

Now though, it's personal.

Roswaal is very angry.

The writ must be truth.

He needs to bring back Echidona

Spreading his arms apart, Roswaal blasts flame at the ceiling. The orange tidal wave bores into the wood and brick and shoots above, spraying debris around the hut. Roswaal's form disappears as he rockets into the sky, blood dripping from his wounds. Mana surges around him and through his glowing gates as he reaches the crest of his flight.

"ARTEMILION."

Roswaal hangs suspended in the air as the mana around him slowly dissipates into the atmoshpere.

Garfiel steps away from Subaru, who doesn't seem to be bleeding anymore, and glowers at Roswaal from the hole in the roof. He flexes his legs, preparing to jump up there and claw the bastard back to the earth.

"W-wait, Garfiel!"

With a snort, Garfiel turns his head to Meiss.

"Don't! That was it... He's called in the Ousagi!"

"The Ousagi!?"

Meiss glances at the door, then at Ram. The pink maid still stands frozen in place.

"We've got to gather everybody into an easily defendable area! Where though...? First get Subaru to Emilia's place, Beatrice can heal him!"

Garfiel looks between Roswaal and Ram, then to Subaru. Grunting, he picks up the unconscious teen and drapes him over his shoulder. Holding Subaru with one hand, Garfiel's other grabs Ram by the arm and drags her along behind him. Meiss tries to struggle to his feet, but his earlier anger-fueled strength fails to return to him and his legs aren't moving fast enough.

Slamming the door open, A man clad in green looks around the room. The door almost conks Garfiel, who curses loudly at the green-clad man as he dashes by.

Otto takes a second to look at Garfiel running into Sanctuary. He then looks in shock at the rubble scattered around and the hole in the roof. His eyes dart over to Meiss.

"Rhen-san! What has happened?"

Meiss parts his hair to frame his face so he is able to see properly. He takes in the panicked look on Otto's face.

"Otto! Roswaal's gone crazy! The spell he just cast will draw the Ousagi here!"

"Ousagi! What what what! The esteemed Roswaal-sama..."

"The 'esteemed Roswaal-sama' just tried to kill me! He's trying to kill us all! Please, help me follow Garfiel!"

Otto looks stunned for a second, before grabbing Meiss and hauling the boy to his feet. Despite his pencil-looking frame, Otto is surprisingly strong and has no trouble practically carrying Meiss to Emilia's hut. It made the travel much easier and faster.

"After this you should _seriously_ consider leaving with no backwards glances, Otto."

—

**A/N: I'm so sorry Otto! I completely forgot you existed! AAAAA! How could I do that?**

—

"Unf!"

CRACK!

The door to Emilia's hut slams inwards as Garfiel kicks it open. The lion releases Ram's arm and gruffly tosses Subaru onto the couch. Beatrice scrambles off the couch, lest she get squashed by Subaru. She immediately returns though and looks at the teen with wide eyes.

"What...? You! Feral boy! What happened!"

"Th' bastard Roswaal tried t'kill Ram 'n Blondie, this bastard played th' hero."

The door creaks loudly on it's broken hinges as Otto walks in with Meiss. The merchant looks wide-eyed at Subaru and the blue light coming from Beatrice. Meiss pushes away, stumbling into the couch and fumbling Roswaal's gospel onto the cushions next to Subaru's feet.

"Beatrice! Drain me, heal Subaru!"

The loli fixes a dagger-like glare at Meiss as she runs out of mana and stops healing.

"You're in barely a state to walk in fact, let alone be a mana donor. You don't have any extra mana remaining either."

The door to Emilia's room creaks open slowly. The half-elf herself steps out, dressed in her pink nightgown and rubbing her eyes.

"What's all the hubbub? It's so earl- SUBARU!"

All notions of tiredness leave Emilia as she rushes over to Subaru and examines him. She holds her hands to his neck and starts to heal.

"Subaru! SUBARU! What happened! Whats going on?"

Emilia's questioning gaze travels over the people in the room, searching for answers. Garfiel isn't even paying attention, roughly walking out of the door while looking into the sky. Meiss pushes himself up and off the couch, ignoring Emilia for now. Beatrice looks at the blonde as he slowly tries to hobble to the door, only to wobble into the wall.

"What are you doing I suppose? Do not think you would be of any significance in a fight, silly boy. You have not yet fully recovered, did Betty's comment about being barely able to walk go over your head in fact?"

"Fight? Is that related to why Subaru is like this? Why's Ram look so frazzled?"

Meiss grits his teeth and pushes off the wall, making it only a few steps before falling. His anger at himself only mounts as his body fails to push himself back up.

"Dammit! You should have been quicker to save Eura, faster when the Hakugei started shooting gas, not let yourself fall to emotion against Ley, smarter against the Witch, more aware against Elsa! Heh, that's funny since she died this time... Use your past mistakes like a sharpened weapon, you useless fuck!"

At the conclusion of his triade against himself, Meiss swings his fist into his leg. Emilia and Beatrice flinch as all the glass and teaware in the hut shatters into dust. One of the couch's legs gives out, jostling Subaru as Meiss brushes his hair over his head. The blonde stands up and looks back at the three, whispering to himself.

"I didn't want to do that, but honestly being hurt sucks."

"What, how..."

"Someone tell me what's happening!"

"Will Natsuki-san survive?!"

Meiss looks to the broken door and the snow falling beyond it. His eyes burn with a determination honed by a new way of thinking. Garfiel is no longer outside the door, where did he go? Maybe he ignored Meiss and immediately went to go beat the shit out of Roswaal. There aren't any sounds of fighting though, perhaps Garfiel is the type to deeply care for his home? Meiss has had scarce interactions with him and wouldn't know.

"I'm not leaving anybody behind."

—

**Hai, ore wa Natuski Subaru ~ Yes, I'm _Natsuki Subaru_. **

**Wa and ga hurt my head, but I'm pretty sure that's correct.**

**Boku ~ Masculine pronoun; kinda boy-ish (I think). Not as informal as Ore but not as formal as Watashi.**

**Atai ~ Feminine pronoun. Don't quote me but I'm pretty sure it's "cutesy."**

**Watashi ~ Gender-neutral pronoun. The go-to pronoun that is also used in formal settings.**

**Ita ~ Ow.**

**Kisama ~ You; extremely rude way to refer to someone in Japanese.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10K WORD COUNT BREACHED
> 
> Niceu.
> 
> I also have a DeviantArt named Re-Pensivity for my doodles and drawing concerning this story.


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